Interview Meet the Chair of Judges
THIS year’s Chair of Judges is Janet Noble, a Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services librarian with almost 30 years of experience working in children’s libraries. She began her career in public librar- ies after working in play settings with younger children, and says “when I saw the job advert for a London Borough of Lambeth children’s librarian – with training on the job – it seemed to bring together two of my great loves of my life, children and books”.
Janet grew up with a love of reading, which was fulfilled through her local library in Tooting Broadway, South London. She says: “When I was growing up, we didn’t have enough money to buy books, but we did all love reading. My older sister would take us all to the library – it was Tooting Library in Toot- ing Broadway, and it seems like I spent most of my childhood in there, taking out books, reading and browsing. I loved to browse and the idea of discovering new authors, not just the well-known ones. When I went to the library, I wanted to see what was there and be surprised by the books. I loved taking a chance with books.”
Janet’s library career grew from that early love of books, and she has been keen to encourage children to develop their own love of reading. Based in libraries in Brixton, Streatham and West Norwood during her time with Lambeth Librar- ies, she says: “I love the creativity and enthusiasm of the younger children I work with.”
Growing up, Janet remembers one book in particular – The Family From One End Street, which had a particular resonance. It tells the story of a working-class family and features a daughter who is anxious about going to a Grammar school. Janet says: “I went to Grammar school, and it really resonated with me – that fear of not fitting in, not having enough money.” The Family From One End Street was the second winner of the Carnegie Medal, in 1938, and Eve Garnett’s book is seen as ground-breaking in its portrayal of working-class families. That notion of books having the power to change lives and broaden perspectives has stayed with Janet, but she reveals it has not always been easy to find similar books for black British children. She says: “As long as I can remember, there has been this big debate about mul- ticultural books, and Lambeth Libraries Service was really positively involved in this discussion when I worked there in
June 2023
felt too elite, and I didn’t know how to get involved. “But, I have seen the organisers really go out and recruit judges from more diverse backgrounds. They have been proactive in approaching people who have experience with books and children and invited them to apply.
“I was a judge in 2019 and 2020, and then had a year off. Last year I came back and was shadowing the Chair of Judges. I have seen the quota of people of colour change amazingly – it’s gone from nil to a quarter of all judges. There are also judges who are neurodiverse and who are open about their sexuality.”
Of her own experience as a judge, Janet
says: “It really made me feel like I was con- tributing to something good – encouraging books for children, and all those talented artists and writers who maybe in the past might have gone under the radar.”
Janet Noble.
the 1990s. There were a lot of diverse books from America, but not so many from the UK. There has been a gap between those aspirations for stories that reflect the lives of under-represented groups coming from British authors and illustrators which we are still addressing to this day. “I come from a black British, work-
ing-class background and I wanted to see people like me in books,” says Janet. For too long, publishers relied on US
titles to fill a gap rather than approaching British authors and illustrators to provide their own voice and experience. That is now changing, but it has been a long time com- ing, and Janet reminds us that the Carnegie Medals had their own reckoning in 2017 when controversy hit over a lack of diversity on the shortlists. Janet says: “CILIP took it on the chin and launched the diversity review, and they asked lots of different stakeholders to help with that review. That was how I became involved. And one of the things that came out of that review was a need to recruit judges from more diverse backgrounds. We have seen that happen, with the Carnegies encouraging new people to come aboard.” That independent review was led by Dame Margaret Caseley-Hayford and brought about fundamental changes to how the Carnegies were run. It helped open up the awards from the inside and out, with new judges and a more representative field of entries. Janet believes that the changes have made a big difference in perception, saying: “I had never engaged with it before – it
This year’s winners
Janet was particularly impressed with this year’s shortlist and says she had already earmarked both The Blue Book of Nebo and Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear as potential medal winners before judging began. With hundreds of books nomin- ated each year, judges have a fairly heavy workload, and it pays to make an early start. Janet said: “I did a lot of pre-reading, trying to think about which books would be nominated. As soon as I read both of these books, I thought they were potential winners. They are stunning and have that level of engagement to draw you into the stories. “The world building and the contrast between the two characters, the son and his mother, in The Blue Book of Nebo is done so well. Manon creates that world and the distinct voices, and it makes you think out- side the story and the implications of their experience. You start to question whether all progress is good, and the aspects of modern life that might not be so great. “Saving Sorya… is brilliant – it has the global outlook, conservation, a strong female character and female empowerment. The story is told beautifully through the mixture of manga and watercolour styles. The use of different perspectives – double page spreads, little panels and the bits that are jotted down notes – is such a clever mix. A really beautiful story, so elegantly told. “It is full of illustrations, but nothing is there that doesn’t need to be. None of it is just filling space – every picture is crafted and honed to connect with the text and the story.” IP
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