Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford
Diversity could unlock new CKG awards potential
CILIP’s Carnegie & Kate Greenaway awards could become a beacon for diversity, inclusion and representa- tion, according to the Chair of the awards’ Diversity Review. In her foreword to the Diversity Review’s interim report, Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford – Chair of ActionAid UK and Chancellor of Coventry University – also said the awards were a “powerful opportunity” to help a generation facing a skills crisis. She said: “To address this skills crisis we must become a nation of readers at all ages, and relentlessly focus on literacy and education as the best way to invest in our economic development.”
Margaret sees the review as a catalyst for the sector: “I took on this role following criticism of the 2017 Carnegie longlist as it included no BAME authors. Since then I have listened to comments, concerns and ideas about how the awards can be the best champion of diversity, inclusion and representation in order to create greater opportunity for the widest pool of talent to be drawn upon.”
Her ambition “to unlock a broader world of literary excellence for readers” is reflected in some of the focus points that were identified in workshops that inform the review’s action plan. Change in Culture: Workshop partici- pants from the children’s book sector want a change in culture with no more ‘buck passing’. They want to see partnerships develop between publishers, librarians and literacy organisations, to grow the profile of children’s literature, change perceptions of diversity issues and drive societal change. Publicity and Promotion: Alongside the need to increase awareness of the work of librarians, the awards and the shadow- ing scheme, the workshop participants called for the involvement of retailers, suppliers and building relationships with
December-January 2017/18
small and independent publishers. Margaret, said: “This in turn should increase participation in reading and associated activities by all children and young people – regardless of who they are, their background and where they live.” Margaret also addressed the economic value of helping excluded members of society improve literacy. She cited a number of reports including the New York School of Social Research, which, she said “proved that reading fiction creates better connectivity and empathy with other people” and are “important to better cohesion and co-operation.” She said this “is why I’m so pleased to be the Independent Chair of this Diversity Review of the country’s oldest children’s book awards – the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. The medals and their accompanying shadowing scheme are a powerful opportunity to engage the broadest range of children and young people possible with outstanding writing and illustration that will fire their imagination and develop essential literacy skills.” The workshops also identified these focus points: Judging: the diversity of the judging panel and librarian workforce as a whole was a recurring theme of discussion along- side subjectivity and unconscious bias. Enhanced diversity training was proposed. Children’s participation: how to
involve and include all children, consider- ing the different needs and capabilities of
children, their backgrounds and how we target harder to reach schools. Nominations and nominators: how to achieve as broad and representative a pool of nominations as possible. Criteria: in-depth scrutiny of the judg- ing criteria allowing quality and excellence in children’s literature and illustration to be redefined for a wider perspective and more diverse voices. Data: no data is collected on the char- acteristics of the people nominating books for the awards or the judges. There is also a lack of data on the authors, illustrators and content of the books. Good data would help identify problem areas and opportu- nities in the process for improvement. These areas will be explored further through consultation in 2018 that will be open to all. Nick Poole, CILIP Chief Executive said: “As a sector, we have learnt that we need to be proactive in identifying and tearing down the barriers which prevent some people from discovering the joy of reading, of cultural participation and of seeing themselves reflected in literature.” He said: “ We know that children’s literature and illustration have a unique power to shine a light on the world as it is and to help us to imagine a better one – and that because of this we have an immense responsibility in how we develop and promote these Awards as ethical librarians.”
Read the interim review and register for the online consultation which opens in January at:
www.cilip.org.uk/ckgreview
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