Today I participated in the first-ever Bill Morris Seminar, which was recently established to honor the memory of long-time Director of Library Promotion and Marketing at HarperCollins. Bill was the first recipient of ALSC’s Distinguished Service Award back in 1992. Those of us who knew Bill will always remember his great support of youth librarians, and we could think of no better way to honor him than offer training in materials evaluation for new ALSC members and for those with little prior evaluation experience.
The 26 participants were selected by members of the ALSC Executive Committee, based on applications and nominations submitted last fall. These librarians came from all over the U.S., and we found them to be a lively, committed, and enthusiastic group. At the Seminar, they received training from member leaders who had served on ALSC evaluation committees in the past, and each participant read ten assigned children’s books in advance so we could discuss them in small groups in the morning and afternoon.
I sat in on two of the discussion groups and I was impressed by the high level of book evaluation and discussion. Many of these newly active members will soon be appointed to ALSC media evaluation committees, and ALSC will benefit greatly from their future participation. As President-Elect Pat Scales said at the end of the day, “Bill would be in heaven.” I could almost picture him, standing in the doorway, thanking everyone for coming as they left the room.
And, of course, he would already have learned everybody’s name.
– KT Horning