Manjeet hosting the Yoto Carnegie Awards at the Cambridge Theatre, London.
Photo © Tom Pilston
most evenings writing my essays and eventually my dissertation in my final year. “So, thank you Coventry University Lan - chester Library, for providing a sanctuary through those three tough years. “I have been lucky enough to be short- listed for the Carnegie medal twice. Firstly, with my debut novel Run, Rebel in 2021, and again in 2022 with The Crossing. Run, Rebel was also awarded the Shadowers’ Choice Award, which still means so much to me. Awards chosen by young readers will always hold a special place in my heart as you are who I write for so to get your stamp of approval means so much more.
“I wrote both of those books in libraries mainly between Birmingham City Library and the British library. So, thank you to
both those libraries for helping me in my quest to become an author. “And now I’m lucky enough to be a published author and am given the honour of being invited into schools to talk to students about books and creativity and I see this time and time again… students asking to sit in the library for time to be alone and without question they are always welcomed in and I can’t help but remember little me and the safety and importance of the library space.
“I am always blown away by the schools I have visited, and the librarians who work so passionately, every one I’ve been to an inclusive, safe and inspiring space. “And of course, I am always inspired by the students I meet. From the teenagers who are already penning their first novel; to the six-year-old who’s writing about their big dreams; to the kid who sits, arms folded not wanting to write during a workshop, saying ‘I can’t Miss, can’t think of anything,’ and then after being left, not pushed, just gently encouraged by the librarian or teacher, that’s the kid who ends up standing up in front of the whole class reading out their story; and finally the Year 9 kid a month ago who asked if I’d consider writing songs to which I replied ‘no, I could never do that’, to which he replied, ‘haven’t you just spent an hour in assembly telling us to never say ‘I can’t’, telling us not to believe the negative voice in our heads, weren’t you telling us to shoot for the stars. So you have to believe miss, you have believe!’ “So, thank you to the young boy in that workshop for teaching me a lesson. “Without libraries and librarians,
I Manjeet Mann. Autumn-Winter 2024
wouldn’t have become a storyteller, with out the books I read there I wouldn’t have felt
empowered, without the time spent there I wouldn’t have passed my exams, they were the gateway to my future.
“And now I see it every time I go into school libraries and classrooms. I see it every time you recommend a book to a student, I see it every time you encourage their creativity in a workshop, I see it every time you offer a safe space to a child who needs time to be alone. I see how you inspire and I see how you empower. “You are not just a librarian you are a detective, a listener, a champion, a supporter, a mentor… and libraries aren’t just a place with books.
“Libraries are in essence a dream making factory and librarians hold the key. So… Thank you!”
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