National Year of Reading - Youth Libraries Group

For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

In this episode we are joined by Tanja Jennings, who is the joint Northern Ireland Representative on the Youth Libraries Group.

Information about the Carnegies can be found here.

Information about the Members' Fest can be found here.

The Youth Libraries Group recommendations on Bookshop.org can be found here. 

And if you are interested in The Youth Library Review or newsletters, you can get more information from ylg.newsletter@gmail.com.

Tanja Jennings write a blog, Good Night to Read, about books and reading which can be found here.

Transcript

Katy 0:11

Welcome to Mostly Book Talk. I'm Katie,

Ali 0:14

I'm Ali, and for the National Year of Reading, we're sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources, or a literary event. And we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

Katy 0:30

And this episode, we're talking to Tanya Jennings, and she is the Northern Ireland Joint Representative on the Youth Libraries Group, and she is going to talk about what the Youth Libraries Group does and what they're doing for the National Year of Reading and how everyone can get involved in that this year and in future years. So welcome. We have with us today Tanya Jennings, who is the Northern Ireland Joint Representative for the Youth Libraries Group, and is part of our series looking at what people are doing for the National Year of Reading.

Ali 1:06

So welcome, Tanya. Do you want to give us an overview of what the Youth Libraries Group is?

Tanya 1:12

Thank you for having me on your lovely podcast. And basically, the Youth Libraries Group is all about celebrating wonderful books and supporting librarians. We are a special interest group of SILUP and we have 12 subcommittee regions. We promote quality literature and illustration every year through the amazing Carnegie Medals, which started in 1936. So it's really exciting to be part of that every year. We provide social and professional support through facet publications, helping school librarians make the most of their school libraries, helping librarians right across the profession, offering them support and networking and advice. We like to meet at conferences and share knowledge and information, preferably best practice, so that we know we're providing a quality service for children and young people. And in a recent Eastbourne conference, it was wonderful to just be part of a community that loves libraries and reading and books. And there was a talk by the CEO of SILP, and I think it really sums it up. Everything that we do as librarians. Librarian professionals are vital to the empowerment of young people in society, positively impacting on learning, inclusion and cohesion, intellectual freedom, trust, democracy, human rights, and health and well-being. So it's very much about being there for each other and just supporting the educative value, the versatility and the professionalism of the craft of librarianship right across the board, with innovative offers for children and young people, and support for librarians through lots of different avenues. It is librarians, it's not just public librarians.

Katy 3:07

Well I think of public libraries, schools as well. So anyone who's any librarian who's working with young people.

Tanya 3:14

Yes, any librarian who's working with young people.

Katy 3:16

Brilliant. So you mentioned the Carnegie's, which you run every year, which we enjoy. We've just seen the long list come out today. Exciting. Yeah. And are there any other special activities or anything else that you're doing for National Year of Reading or anything you want to highlight in the National Year of Reading in terms of what's on offer, just to make people aware of what you're doing?

Tanya 3:38

Absolutely. Carnegie's is part of the National Year of Reading. And do want to say that we had the long list announcement today, and there are wonderful books to read and to go on visual journeys with, and really exciting debut authors and well-known names, and just a wonderful, diverse field to investigate and explore, and just have a wonderful time looking at them with young people. The shadowing scheme is so important, and young people are more involved in it than ever because they can decide their winners, their shadowers' choice. So it's not just about judges saying these are the books that we think are outstanding, it's about the young people engaging, and it's just so wonderful to see. The shadowing runs from March to June, and there's a whole Carnegie's Week on Scholastic Schools. The shortlist announcement will be at the London Book Fair on the 10th of March. And then you've also got the Schools Live ceremony at the Cambridge Theatre, London, in June, which is so exciting, and it's got a wonderful set. Mrs. Phelps and Matilda's librarian, and the whole library set, and the whole atmosphere of Matilda and all the authors and illustrators and judges and young people coming together to celebrate wonderful books. Now we're also really excited because we are involved in setting up a massive open online course, again linked to the Carnegie Medals. They're unique as they're judged solely by librarians, and they also started up a win for Arthur Ransom in 1936 for Pigeon Post. And then you have the youngest ever author, Margaret MacDonald, winning with Glasgow Boys in 2025. But they will be celebrating their 90th anniversary in 2027. So the Youth Libraries Group is going to work with the University of Lancashire to develop a massive open online course to support the medals. So that is in the works.

Katy 5:37

That is that course for teachers and librarians who want to involve their young people in it.

Tanya 5:43

It is. We have got a member fest on the 5th of March, World Book Day, coming up. What you do is you go on to the Silip website and you can register on events. Now we're just one of the special interest groups doing all these events for membersfest. But what you can do is you can log on to this and it's free for all members and non-members. You just register at the SILIP website, and we're going to be looking at essentially how children's and YA books are beneficial and relevant to everyone, and how they support well-being and literacy. That is so important with Mental Health Week upon us. So they support well-being and literacy no matter what age you are. And there's going to be a special emphasis on graphic novels and picture books. Wow, I can't.

Ali 6:34

That's an event that an event for Cilip members and non-silip members as well. They can everyone can get involved, register on that. We can put a link to how people can register for that. That's really cool.

Tanya 6:47

Yep. Head onto the Cilip website, check out Member Fest, and you've got a whole showcase of training, workshops, discussions. You've stuff happening with all the wonderful special interest groups. And ours is the online webinar supporting reading in the National Year of Reading. And as it was said about the importance of graphic novels and picture books for visual learners, there's going to be a real emphasis on that. And that's really exciting because some people have overlooked graphic novels. I know when I did a study of it, it was like, oh, those are comics. You shouldn't be reading comics. But they're just so much more. They take you on visual adventures and they're linked to learning and they offer all these portals into different worlds. So we're going to be focusing on visual power in that webinar, as well as YA books.

Katy 7:41

We hear a lot about how popular graphic novels are becoming and how they can be the kind of thing that gets some real buzz going in schools. Yeah, the shortlist. Not the pardon me. The long list. Oh, you haven't given away the shortlist, have you? Are you a judge?

Tanya 7:58

No, I am not a judge at all this year.

Ali 8:01

We always we play that though, but now the long list is out. We try and play shortlist bingo.

Tanya 8:06

Oh, he's going to be on the short list. All I'm saying is that on the long list there is the Incredible Lord of the Flies graphic novel. I saw that.

Katy 8:15

That's in the illustration list, isn't it? Yeah.

Ali 8:17

But it's interesting, isn't it? It's taking a classic and reinventing it for a new generation of readers, which is It's powerful.

Tanya 8:23

And then one of the winners in a previous year, they took a book long way down and reinvented it as a graphic novel. And I was a judge that year, so I can say that we were really that one. It was just incredible.

Ali 8:41

Our final question really is what are your hopes and fears for the national year of reading?

Tanya 8:47

The youth libraries group just wishes to carry a love of the richness, power, and diversity of reading forward to as many people as it can reach. And the Carnegie Medals, it responds to feedback and is continually evolving. It went through a whole diversity review, which was very successful. And now we've got the exciting new age-inclusive long list shadowing offer, which is going to encourage more reading groups of all ages to take part. We've another library conference coming up in Oxford this year. And for the first time, groups are going to be able to shadow the long-listed books with age guidance, tailored resources, and flexible ways to build their own book selections. And that hope is enshrined in supporting more schools and libraries to get involved. They might not have the funds to be able to get a lot of the shortlisted books. So there are other ways they can access them. You have Sora, which provides free digital access for schools to be available with shortlisted books on Sora. And the fears would be failing to engage with less traditional readers. But reading just transports you and you can encounter characters that crack the heart and speak to the soul. I know that I've encountered many of those characters through being lucky enough to be involved with the Carnegie's and reading wonderful shortlisted books. And everybody, when you open a book, it's a portal into exciting new worlds, whether they be fantastical, historical, or a treasure trove of knowledge. And it's just all about celebrating books via social media channels, via events, via sharing recommendations. And I also have to mention one thing that's happening is the YLG have got involved in bookshop.org. I'm sure you know about bookshop.org and read it forward this February, where 10% of all children's book sales through bookshops go to reading charities, Book Trust and Scottish Book Trust, and they're supporting independent bookshops as well. We're going to be showcasing regional choices across the 12 months with e-lists recommended by librarians across the regions in the youth libraries group. So London is up, and that features authors like Alex Wheatle and Patrice Lawrence. So you can check it out on the bookshop.org site. And then Wheels is going to be the next region featured, and we're going to be right across the year with all the regions. So that's another way we are contributing and hoping to spread the word about great reads and highlight great reads from great regions. Yeah, it sounds great.

Katy 11:15

Can I just be clear in terms of just check with you? The Sora offer, if people are looking, maybe haven't got involved in the Carnegie shortlisting or shadowing before because of the difficulty about affording the books. What is the do you want to just explain the Sora offer that's this year in terms of how people can access the books?

Tanya 11:35

It's just that Sora is making the Carnegie books available. Free digital access for schools to be available with shortlisted books on Sora. Yep. Okay, brilliant. And there are publishers offering discounts on Carnegie titles, like you can order the long lists, but packs can be pre-ordered from Scholastic, and the build-your own long list packs will be available to order from Scholastic. Okay. Okay.

Katy 11:59

And just in general, if people aren't currently involved in their youth library group, how do they get involved? If they're thinking it's the National Year of Reading, I want to get more involved in these things. How do they get involved in? You've said there are regional groups. How do they get involved in those?

Tanya 12:14

They can head along to the member fest on the 5th of March and check it out and look at all the special interest groups. Okay, brilliant.

Katy 12:22

And is there anything else that you wanted to say what you know you hope that the National Year of Reading will achieve, what its legacy will be?

Tanya 12:29

I just had it won't be a tick box exercise. Oh, we've done the National Year of Reading. I hope it will reach more people than ever before promoting great reads. And I have noticed a lot of people celebrating the National Year of Reading on LinkedIn in particular. But the thing about that is there are lots of people from the book community celebrating it. But we want to get the message out to everyone. Um because reading can be a magical experience, and we just want to spread the magic. It's just like with the kids' lit quiz that I've been involved with. It's all just about the power and the magic of reading. The more you can share, the better, exactly.

Katy 13:10

So we don't just want the National Year of Reading being all the people who know about reading and books to talk to one another about how great they are. They wanted to get that from that.

Tanya 13:17

No, we want someone to pick up a book and say, Hey, I heard about this book, you know, like to share it with you. Personally, I'm reading to my mum at the minute. I'm reading the finest hotel in Kabul to my mum. So I'm also listening to an audiobook, and I'm also reading lots of books at the same time. So I am getting involved in terms of just reading more than ever before. But the more people celebrate, the better. And sometimes the media can just be involved intermittently and promote an event here and there, but it's to keep the momentum going and just spread the word about great books, and just the most important thing, the most important message is diversity and inclusivity, and books that children can see themselves reflected in, and that other children can see different lives reflected back to them, just so that there's more awareness of different people's lives. Because when you pick up a book, you're experiencing a life, you're stepping inside the author's mind, and you're living through the characters. And if it's written spectacularly, the characters just they live off the page, they live in your mind, and you're wondering what's happened to them. You put the book down and there's what's going to happen, and it's this compulsive reading, and that's a gift.

Katy 14:36

It is indeed. Thank you. Brilliant. Thank you very much. Tanya got in touch after we'd done the interview just to say, could we mention the Youth Library Review, which is the official journal published each spring, which covers a wide range of library and children's literature reviews.

Ali 14:58

So a little plug for that. And if you want to tell us what you're up to, what your organization's doing, then get in touch. Info at mostlybooktalk.com and we can have a chat with you too.