Awards and Booklists and Teens (oh my!)

I became a YA librarian for the books. As a children's librarian, I had started working more and more with tweens so I was reading a lot of middle-grade fiction (what we called "young teen") for work and a lot of YA fiction for fun. My excitement over the fiction is what prompted me to make the switch to YA services when I applied to NYC libraries and the rest is history. Except that these days, I have to admit, my interests are less and less about the books. Which I am okay with most of the time, although I do feel guilty for not reading as much or as widely as I could.

But yesterday I participated in the Queens Library Mock Newbery meeting and I am now 100% committed to having a Mock Printz Award for books published in 2011.

I had never participated in a mock award meeting before (shocking, I know) so it was interesting to learn about the process and really exciting and inspiring to sit in a room with other professionals who are passionate about literature for young people and actually TALK ABOUT BOOKS! It was so much fun, especially to hear the wide range of opinions on each of the books.

But here's the thing--the ALA awards and lists are for us and other educators. I have never once had a kid or teen run in on a Monday afternoon in January and ask for the winning books, although I've had plenty of peers do so. That does not necessarily negate the value of awards (and to a certain extent any list of recommended reading we as professionals and adults prepare for teens and kids) but it should be a reminder that many of these books will never fly off our shelves.

On still the other hand, that does not mean that participating in a mock awards process is an exercise in futility. It is something nearly all large libraries and systems do because (I think) it is a way to remind us as professionals of our own expertise and to empower the vast majority of us who will never be on a "real" ALA selection committee. In looking at the lists of mock awards winners NYPL, BPL and we have chosen over the last few years, there are often stark differences between them and the "real" winners, which often reflect our unique point-of-view as librarians working with youth in an extremely diverse urban environment. This is useful! We should know what our peers consider the best of the best but we should also be critical and think of what is the best of the best in our corner of the library world. And if nothing else, it's a way for us to access quality books we might not have otherwise read which we can then bring to those teens who will appreciate them.

Cash in the Coffee Can: $194.00