What a wonderful way to start my day at the conference today! This morning I attended the 2022 ALSC Awards Presentation for the the Siebert, Batchelder, and Geisel winners. What a treat to see so many librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, friends and families in one room honoring such beautiful books. What I loved most about this celebration was hearing such humble speeches from the winning authors and the care and craft that was taken by the committees to select them. Some of my favorite moments:
- Hearing the stories from author Cynthia Levinson and illustrator Evan Turk about their personal connections and research done for the winning Sibert Medal book, The People’s Painter.
- A well-deserved standing ovation for the Sibert Honor Book, Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. I think everyone was touched that Floyd Cooper’s wife accepted the honor on his behalf for the captivating illustrations he created.
- The author of The Batchelder Award winning book Temple Alley Summer, Sachiko Kashiwaba was present to accept her award! As this award is given to the publisher, and authors of these books are typically living outside the United States, it’s sometimes unusual to have an author present. We were all so honored to hear her speech in person.
- Fox at Night written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor took home the Geisel award for his work with this early reader series. His humor shines on the page and in person! I love that Committee Members wore little fox ears to help celebrate. What a nice touch!
- The Fred Rogers Productions studio was awarded the Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award for their show, Alma’s Way with a warm acceptance speech of praise and adoration for public resources such as libraries and librarians. Alma’s Way is available through PBS Kids.
I am so grateful to have attended and want to congratulate all the winners and honor recipients.
Conference guest contributor Jennifer A. Peterson (she/her/hers) is a Youth Services Librarian at the Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling, IL. She is attending live and in person and is most looking forward to being in Washington, DC and meeting everyone from the Programming Coordinating Committee in person. If she could read one book for the first time again, it would be Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. She remembers reading this as a child, and it quickly became a lifelong favorite. Another would have to be And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, because now that she knows what happens, it’s hard to “unsolve” the mystery!
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.