Ericka Chilcoat, the Merced County Children’s Librarian, was thrilled at the opportunity to be one of the eight members of a committee which met at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference in Denver, Colorado from Feb. 8 to 12. The committee members worked together for two full days before choosing “Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961” by Larry Dane Brimner as the 2018 winner of the Sibert Award, an award which is bestowed annually on the author and illustrator of the most distinguished informational book published in the preceding year in the U.S.
Describing “Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961”, Chilcoat said, “The book is about 13 freedom riders who, in 1961, on the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, rode two buses from Washington, D. C. to New Orleans to draw attention to the violation of the laws prohibiting segregation. The violation was that there was segregation on buses and in bus terminals. Even though it was against the law, it was still happening. Some of the riders were attacked physically when they made stops in terminals. In some cases, they needed to be hospitalized, and the hospitals wouldn’t treat them because of segregation issues. The book covers the legislation that led up to these 12 days in May. It is recommended for readers ages 10 and up.”
Chilcoat described the four honor books, as well — “Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix” by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, the story of Chef Choi bringing healthy and inexpensive street food to Southern California and drawing all sorts of people together; “Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators that Saved an Ecosystem” by Patricia Newman, about a puzzling ecological mystery in the Monterey Bay Elkhorn Slough; “Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability” written by Shane Burcaw, a story in which the author, who has a rare disease, answers children’s questions about disabilities in a straightforward way; and “Grand Canyon” by Jason Chin, the story of a child’s journey with her father through the Grand Canyon.
She explained that the books have wonderful illustrations.
“The illustrations in the book about Chef Choi look like there is spray paint in the background and other photos show families around the table, and some have surprises – – one of the pictures shows “L. A.” in the background,” Chilcoat said.
She added, “‘Grand Canyon’ has fold-outs showing a full view of the Grand Canyon.”
For curious book lovers, this award-winning book and the honor books can be checked out at the Merced County Public Library!
Chilcoat said, “If the book you want is not available, you can place a request.”
Describing the selection of the books by the committee she was on, she said, “I got to the conference on February 8th. We met at a restaurant for dinner, and the next day we were scheduled to work at 8:00 a.m. The following day, we did the same, working from 8:00 a.m. to about 10:00 p.m. so we could come up with one winner and four honor books.”
Chilcoat continued, “The next day, Sunday, there were video tapes made of the phone calls to authors, who were told they were winners. They were sworn to secrecy. The next day, February 12th, the winners were announced.”
She said, enthusiastically, “The Mid-Winter conference had classes, sessions, presentations by authors, and give-aways of advanced reading copies of forthcoming books, and it was a great networking opportunity. There was also a lot of hard work in closed sessions going on.
“Once the decisions were made, we each took a book, and we got together in pairs and using the author’s website and the information on the book’s back flap, we crafted the press release. That was really exciting. It was overwhelming at times, but the wonderful thing was forming relationships on the committee and developing a safe place for everyone to say what they thought about the books. At the end of the time, you felt so close to the people. It was a very emotional journey. I’m hoping to see all of them again from June 21 to 26 at the conference in New Orleans where the authors and illustrators will be presented with their medals.”
It’s a good thing Chilcoat loves to read informational books! In preparation for helping choose the award-winning book, as well as four honor books, Chilcoat read the majority of the 400 informational (nonfiction) children’s books she gradually received as the process evolved over the past year.
By way of background, children’s book awards have been around since the 1920’s and 1930’s, like the Caldecott Medal, a picture book award, and the Newberry Medal, for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
But more recently, in 2001, the Sibert Informational Book Award was established by the Association for Library Service to Children. The award was named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time president of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. Sibert felt a nonfiction book award should be an even higher priority than the Caldecott or Newberry because there was a wealth of great nonfiction books for children of which a lot of kids, parents and teachers were unaware.
Unfortunately for library patrons, on Feb. 24, Ericka Chilcoat will be leaving her position as children’s librarian after 10 years because she took another job in town.
About her years at the library, she said, “I had such a great time. It was great to talk to others working in the trenches with children because it’s a job that gives so much back to you.”