Alan Bailey's Reflection Upon the Coretta Scott King Jury Experience

For more than 20 years, I have read and promoted winners of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and after reading the last word of each extraordinary title, I close the book, look at the cover, and think to myself, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be on the Coretta Scott King (CSK) jury and choose the winning titles?” My opportunity of a lifetime came in January 2008 when I was notified by the chair of the CSK Book Awards Committee that I had been elected to serve on the 2009 jury. I was floored, but the feeling was amazing.

Amazement turned into excitement as the first titles to be considered for awards arrived in February. Weekly, one or more titles would arrive, and I was simply awed by the quality and array of works being published thanks to such talented writers and illustrators. As months passed and more and more books arrived (one week, I received twelve YA novels within three days) excitement morphed into concern. When am I going to find time to evaluate and review all of these books? How will the jury ever choose winners from this wide range of titles? The more I read, the more I realized how easy exceptional works of literature are distinguishable from “good reads.” By December, more than 100 titles had been reviewed and evaluated, and at the close of the nomination period, 40 titles remained on the jury’s consideration list for 2009 CSK Book Awards.

Closed jury deliberations began at 1 pm on Friday, January 23, 2009. As we introduced ourselves and shared our passions for children’s literature, feelings of amazement, excitement, and concern were joined by anxiety. Seven jurors with varied literary backgrounds from across the United States have fifteen hours to select three awards from forty titles – is it possible? Combine a well-organized and experienced jury chair, six knowledgeable jurors with a unified purpose, and a clear set of selection criteria, and the answer is yes! As each of the forty titles was brought to the table for discussion, we kept several essential questions in mind: Is the work outstanding? Does it inspire and educate readers? Will it honor the legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King? Titles receiving positive responses to all three of these questions remained on the table. Late Saturday night, when all discussions had ceased, final votes were cast and tabulated, and winning seals were affixed to book jackets, I went back to my hotel room exhausted, but confident that the best books nominated for the 2009 CSK awards had been selected.

The Youth Media Awards Press Conference was held on Monday, January 26th – what a rousing way to celebrate a year’s worth of comprehensive reading and fifteen hours of intense deliberations. The jury members called the award winning authors and illustrators to congratulate them prior to the international announcement. Each jury member was given the opportunity to call an award winner. Most were successful, but unfortunately, I was unable to reach my assigned winner – the telephone numbers listed on the contact sheet were either disconnected or temporarily out of service. Unbeknown to me, my moment of disbelief was caught on film.

The official press conference began at 7:45 am. As the procession, representing jury members of all the children’s award committees, was led down a staircase into the grand ballroom, the moment was reminiscent of Oscar night. The media, librarians, publishers, and others lined both sides of the staircase waving, applauding, taking pictures, and shaking hands, when possible. Many whispered, “Congratulations,” in my ear while others murmured, “Come on, tell me who won the award.”

Without a doubt, serving on the jury of the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee was the highlight of my professional career, and it was hard to believe there were more thrills ahead. Award winning authors and illustrators were honored today, July 14, 2009, at the annual CSK Awards Breakfast during ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In addition to recognizing the 2009 award recipients, CSK celebrates its 40th anniversary, a monumental milestone sure to be treasured by all attendees. To learn more about the awards breakfast or view highlights from the press conference, visit the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee website.

--Alan R. Bailey


Editor's note: Alan R. Bailey, Assistant Professor & Education Curriculum Librarian at J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, can be reached at baileya@ecu.edu. We are grateful to him for sharing his experiences with us.

Happy New Year!

2008 was a big year for us at Stone Arch Books.

• We published 102 books (and that doesn't include paperbacks, reprints, audio, or interactive).
• We won a bunch of awards: American Graphic Design Awards for The Adventures of Sam X, our Spring 2008 catalog, our Fall 2007 catalog, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; the Golden Duck Award; and Ropes of Revolution won both the Moonbeam Award and the Teacher's Choice Award.
• As part of a restructuring at Capstone Publishers, we assumed responsibility for Picture Window Books' fiction, and now we're publishing a more comprehensive selection of fiction, expanding our age range to preK through grade 9.
• We said goodbye to Kay, one of our designers, and Maryellen (who is now working as the classroom project manager for Heinemann Raintree/Capstone Publishers).
• We welcomed two new editors (Julie and Christianne), an art director (Bob), two designers (Emily and Hilary), and an intern (Sean, who has just officially become an associate editor).
• We solved approximately 250 New York Times crossword puzzles during lunch.
• Two babies were born (Sam, to Beth, and Isla, to Julie).
• We got a bunch of great reviews.
• We moved from our cramped cubicles in "the garage" to more spacious offices downstairs. Our new location is a work in progress—and some of us are still not in our permanent desks—but we've got a lot more room!
• We traveled all over the US—to ALA, SCBWI, Comic-Con, TLA, and helped host PLA here in Minneapolis (where we introduced Jake Maddox to a bunch of happy librarians).
• We had tons of fun!

How can we possibly top 2008? It's going to be tough, but we're pretty sure we can do it. For starters, we've got 106 new books headed to libraries now for our Spring 2009 season. We'll have another 98 the season after that (making our 2009 total 204!). January will mark the launch of our new DC Super Heroes set, featuring Batman and Superman. We've been working on these books for years now, and we're so excited for them to finally be in the hands of readers! But the fun won't end in January—we'll have more new series, great new authors and illustrators, and fantastic new books all year long.

The Stone Arch Books blog is evolving in 2009 too. We want to give you more—more insight, more behind-the-scenes, more commentary. We'll feature more staff members, authors, and illustrators. We'll unveil more new features. And we want to hear from you—please use the comments sections to tell us what you want, what you think, how we can better serve you (as teachers, librarians, parents, readers).

Our resolution for 2009: Innovate more. We know that 2009 is going to bring challenges in every industry, including ours. We've always considered ourselves innovative, but with the new economic atmosphere, we're going to have to be even more creative. We'll have to find new ways to do things. We'll have to do our work differently. It'll be exciting to see what comes out of it.

What's your resolution for 2009? What challenge are you excited to tackle? (Let us know by leaving a comment!)

Happy New Year from all of us here at Stone Arch Books. 2009 may not be easy, but we're pretty sure it's going to be good.