Is It the Process or the Product? Love them or hate them, the awards are a great opportunity

I hate to admit it, but deep in my heart I’m a bit skeptical about the Youth Media Awards, which include the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and many other honors.

It’s not that I don’t love all of the anticipation leading up to the announcements and the drama of the event itself. But I always wonder whether it makes sense in this day and age for one book, as in the case of the Newbery, to be named “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” (For more on the rigor that goes into choosing the Caldecott Medal, see Nell Colburn’s “Caldecott Confidential,” pp. 38–40.)

Perhaps my skepticism is rooted in my experiences early in my career as an adult services librarian. Adult services librarians produce lists (such as the Notable Books for Adults) rather than award medals. Created with the understanding that publishing is so broad and readers so varied, these lists of outstanding titles are for reader’s advisory and collection development. The more media-savvy among us—who looked enviously at the children’s folks—were always pushing to anoint one adult book of the year as “most distinguished.” But let’s face it: no adult award could ever come close to duplicating the cultural and marketing clout of the Newbery and Caldecott.

Of course, children’s and teen librarians get to have their cake and eat it, too. They have the high-profile awards, but also develop those lists that are the librarian’s bread-and-butter, such as the Notable Children’s Books, Notable Children’s Videos, and Best Books for Young Adults.

Whatever you may think of the one-great-book model, two other outcomes of the awards process can’t be disputed. The mock Newberys (and Caldecotts and Printzes) held with children and teens are brilliant opportunities to get kids excited about books, while similar activities for library staffers provide a sort of national professional development opportunity that can make all of us better readers (and, as Nell Colburn reminds us, better listeners).

But what’s really exciting is how technology has made this process more inclusive. While you might be the only children’s librarian or school librarian for miles around, you can still participate, virtually, in a number of award discussions that are happy to include you. This fall I followed SLJ’s “Heavy Medal,” a mock Newbery blog by Nina Lindsay and Jonathan Hunt. Their posts introduced me to books, encouraged me to reread some titles, pointed me back to the award’s criteria, and made me question my own biases. But it wasn’t just Nina and Jonathan; visitors posted thoughtful insights that surpassed most face-to-face book discussions.

Kids are also using technology to enhance their mock Newbery discussions. Beth Martin, a teacher-librarian in Wisconsin, reported her experiences on the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s electronic discussion group: “I have 120 students in four separate classes participating in a Mock Newbery Unit. We discuss our books online via a Moodle forum…. It gets pretty lively…. Each student must nominate their favorites and present their evidence to the class using the same criteria as the committee…. We talk about the official procedure and use weighted voting. Each class chooses their own winner and honor books…. We culminate with a Newbery Breakfast while we watch the live webcast of the Youth Media Awards.”

They also use Skype for author visits—Rebecca Stead was scheduled to visit late last month—and “also will be Skyping with a school in another part of the state immediately following the announcement to compare reactions.”

If that isn’t a brilliant argument for a book award, I don’t know what is.

bkenney@reedbusiness.com