{"id":31199,"date":"2024-07-01T20:05:40","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T00:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=31199"},"modified":"2024-07-01T20:03:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T00:03:27","slug":"an-experience-to-remember-the-caldecott-newbery-legacy-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/an-experience-to-remember-the-caldecott-newbery-legacy-banquet\/","title":{"rendered":"An Experience to Remember – The Caldecott Newbery Legacy Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As an educator and school librarian with over three decades of experience, I’ve attended numerous literary events. However, attending the Caldecott Newbery Legacy Banquet<\/a> for the first time during #ALAAC24 was a uniquely inspiring and unforgettable experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As I walked to the event, I will be quite honest, I didn\u2019t know what to expect. Who would be there? What would the speeches be like? Would I have anyone to talk to? The Caldecott Newbery Legacy Banquet is literally one of the most anticipated annual event of children\u2019s literature. But there is a big difference between the winners of the Oscars or Tonys and the winners of Youth Media Awards. The movie and Broadway winners are usually recognizable. We see their faces plastered on the big screen over and over. We associate their names with their faces. In children\u2019s books, we recognize the names, but not always the faces. There are some faces, though, that I do recognize. On my walk over, none other than Neal Shusterman was in front of me. I am proud to say I had a quiet fangirl moment but allowed him to continue on his way undisturbed. I entered the banquet hall, and it was filled with people, chatting and laughing, all of us excited for the event. Who walked by? None other than the amazing Jason Reynolds. I knew the banquet was a big deal, but I did not anticipate it being this amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was complete, and now it was time for the awards and the speeches. I can\u2019t imagine the struggle the committee members had choosing winners for each of the awards. One of my career goals includes serving on one of these committees. Being a part of the selection process would be a dream come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First on the program was Vashti Harrison\u2019s Bi<\/strong>g<\/em>. When I first laid eyes on this picture book, I fell in love. Beautifully illustrated and a much-needed story about being just right. Ms. Harrison opened her speech with a question she was asked, if I remember correctly, by her agent. \u201cDid you know you are the first black woman to win the Caldecott<\/a>?\u201d With that statement, my heart sputtered. Not that she isn\u2019t deserving, because she is, but how is it that in 86 years we have only had one black woman win? Her emotion-filled speech gave credit to the seven black women who were awarded honors before her and thanked them for paving the way for her. She boldly shared the dark parts of her story and her inspiration for Big<\/em>, a book she hopes, and I am sure it does, will help so many people be seen.

The Newbery Medal<\/a> winner, Dave Eggers, started his acceptance speech with a humorous \u201cSo many nightmares all at once\u201d statement. He accidentally dropped his medal, joked about eating on stage, and let us know that following Vashti Harrison\u2019s moving speech was a bit daunting. He was eloquent, emotional, and inspirational. Mr. Eggers acknowledged the hard work of his teachers, their support of his creativity, and his love of monsters. He shared his first book, written in fifth grade, and throughout the speech, he held back tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program concluded with the Legacy Award<\/a>. A committee of five had the enormous task of honoring an author or illustrator who has made lasting and substantial contributions to children\u2019s literature over a period of time. I cannot fathom the enormity of this responsibility. This year\u2019s winner, Pam Mu\u00f1oz Ryan, was celebrated for her extensive works, including Esperanza Rising<\/em>, a book based on her grandmother\u2019s immigration journey, which is celebrating twenty-five years in print. Ms. Mu\u00f1oz Ryan hinted at exciting things to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attending the Caldecott Newbery Legacy Banquet was not only a highlight of my career but also a profound reminder of the impact children’s literature has on shaping young minds and reflecting diverse experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Conference Blogger Arlene Laverde <\/strong>(she\/her\/hers) is a very recent (July 1, 2024) NYCPS retiree. She has been the school librarian at Townsend Harris High School<\/a> in Queens NY for ten years and worked in various high schools and elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens. When in school she never considered librarianship as a career. She started as an elementary school teacher and accidentally fell into the role as a school librarian. She hasn\u2019t looked back since. She is currently serving as co-chair for the AASL 2025 National Conference<\/a> in St. Louis and will be attending the Morris Seminar in Denver, Colorado this September. She\u2019s looking forward to the Newbery Caldecott Legacy Banquet, as well as not only reconnecting with friends from around the country, but meeting new ones throughout the conference. Now that she is a retiree, all things are possible and looks forward to exploring her many interests, as well as the continued fight for library advocacy. Twitter handle: @THHSLibrary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an educator and school librarian with over three decades of experience, I’ve attended numerous literary events. However, attending the Caldecott Newbery Legacy Banquet for the first time during #ALAAC24 was a uniquely inspiring and unforgettable experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2746,134,151],"tags":[614,2816,2435,2817,2775],"class_list":["post-31199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ala-annual-2024","category-guest-blogger","category-live-blogging","tag-awards-2","tag-dave-eggers","tag-newbery-caldecott-legacy-banquet","tag-pam-munoz-ryan","tag-vashti-harrison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}