Dr. Carolyn S. Brodie, an associate professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, was recently elected as chair of the prestigious John Newbery Award for the year 2000 She assumed the chairmanship at the recent American Library Association Mid-winter meeting in Philadelphia.
The John Newbery Award was established in 1922 as the first children's literature award in the world, it continues today as an "Academy Award" in the field and is important world-wide.
"Elected as chair of the Newbery Committee is definitely a highlight of my career in children's library services. It is also an opportunity for the students in Kent's School of Library and Information Science to see part of the process and to review many new titles," said Brodie.
According to Barbara Barstow, 1999 Caldecott Medal Chair and Children's Services Manager for the Cuyahoga County Public Library, "Awards like the Newbery Medal are important because they bring attention to books that are distinctive and worthy of recognition."
"It is a tremendous vote of trust and confidence by your peers to be named chair of the committee,"Barstow said. "You become a part of literary history."
Each spring the members of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), elect a chairperson and seven committee members top serve on the next year's committee. Later in the fall the elected members are joined by seven members appointed by the president of ALSC for a total of fourteen members plus the chair. Brodie's committee will read children's books published in 1999 for an award to be announced in January 2000.
The John Newbery Award recognizes the most distinguished children's book published in the previous year. Books are judged by their interpretation of theme; presentation of information; plot development; characterization; delineation of setting; and appropriateness of style. The committee focuses on literary quality and quality of presentation for children. For more information check the John Newbery Award website at http://www.ala.org/alsc/newbery.html.
"The Newbery Medal is an award the critics, publishers, authors, educators and children recognize as important because it denotes distinction in children's literature,"Brodie said.
For the past nine years, Brodie has co-directed the Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth with Dr. Anthony Manna of the College of and Graduate School of Education. The conference held annually at Kent State University focuses on educating participants about multicultural literature for children and young adults. For more details on this year's conference on Friday, April 16 visit the conference website at http://www.kent.edu/Virginiahamiltonconf/
As an associate professor at Kent since 1989, Brodie has taught children's literature, young adult literature, information sources for youth, trends in literature and school library media center classes.
Brodie has published several books, book chapters and over 100 journal columns related to children's materials. She has presented lectures and workshops in Ohio and across the nation on topics ranging from children's reference materials to multicultural picture books to the World Wide Web. As a member of the American Library Association's Notable Children's Books Committee in 1997 and 1998 she read and reviewed about 2000 children's books each year
Brodie has been a member of the American Library Association since 1981 and was a member of the 1995 John Newbery Award Committee which selected Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins).
Brodie received a bachelor of science in education from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in 1979; a masters in education in 1981 from UCA; a master of library science from Vanderbilt University in 1982; a master of education from Texas Woman's University (TWU) in 1988 and a doctor of philosophy from TWU in 1988.
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02-20-99
Editor's note:
Three Ohioans have won the Newbery Award previously including:
Virginia Hamilton for "M.C. Higgins, the Great," McMillan, 1975.
Cynthia Rylant for "Missing May," Orchard Books, 1993.
Sharon Creech. for "Walk Two Moons," HarperCollins, 1995