My Odyssey Journey

I was just invited to be part of the 2017 Odyssey Award Committee (happy dance!) Do ya’ll know this award? It gets the tiniest bit trumped by the big hitters, Newbery and Caldecott, but as an adult who loves to be on the receiving end of a story, I’m pretty thrilled to be part of this committee that chooses the best audiobook produced for kids or teens each year. I once wrote a kind-of fan letter to an actor (Eric Singer) who narrated one of my favorite books (it’s an adult title: The Dogs of Babel) and he actually responded! So yah, I get the fangirl element of audiobooks.

Since this will be my first award-committee-experience, I’m excited for sure but I’m also a bit nervous.

Here’s the stuff I’m thrilled about:

• Exposure to titles I might otherwise miss. It’s hard to catch a glimpse of all the youth titles each year so this will be a great way to expand my radar.
• Ability to call ‘listening to stories’ official work. We all read on our own time for our work, but this feels official-er and there’s a real honor attached to it!
• First time at both an ALA mid-winter and an ALA annual. I’ve had a few close calls in the past (one year I was supposed to do a presentation with the famous David Lee King but there was a hiccup and it never happened) but have never gone to ALA in my 11+ years as a librarian. For shame! So it’s finally happening and I can’t wait to be totally enraptured!
• I am a poet and really feel like poetry is meant to be read aloud. So the whole oral tradition part of this work really taps into some of my other passions. I remember years ago, seeing Ira Glass from This American Life live and his whole talk centered around the power of stories and he used the classic One Thousand and One Arabian Nights to illustrate that stories can truly save lives. So YES to telling stories!
• I get to meet and work with librarians from around the country! It’s always great to meet and chat with other librarians, hear other opinions and articulate my own thoughts and reactions.
• Florida and Georgia! Wahoo for the south! I’m sorta north up in Pittsburgh so headin’ down south will be delightful!

And here’s the stuff I’m nervous about:

• First time at both an ALA mid-winter and an ALA annual. I’ve read a ton of How-To-Attend-ALA articles and blog posts and I think they’ve gotten in my head! I’m prepared to be completely overwhelmed during the day and holed up in my room breathing in lavender with a hot compress over my eyes each night.
• I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy! I’m sure many of you understand this one. I usually kindly listen to that voice for a few minutes and then send it on its way. But it’s definitely around. In looking at past winners (it’s only been around since 2008) there were a number of titles that (blush) I didn’t even realize had audio versions (gasp!) So I’ll certainly be playing catch-up and will make sure to listen to as many past winners as I can.
• How will I know what’s good? I’m sure this at least crosses the minds of many committee members. But evaluating literature is serious business. You don’t want to underthink it. You don’t want to overthink it. There’s some gut involved. Some critical eye. A nice cocktail of hearty thinking and feeling. Is there a support group for ALA committee members?

So, onward! I won’t make any puns or jokes relating to Homer’s Odyssey and my own journey to and through this experience. Or will I….

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Our guest blogger today is Kelley Beeson. Kelley is the Youth Services Department Head at the Western Allegheny Community Library. She’s been working in libraries since high school and her favorite book is Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief.

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at alscblog@gmail.com.