Is the Newberry Award still relevant?

[SFG75]

I found a few articles regarding criticism of the Newberry Award. According to critics, the award goes to books that children won't read any way, books that children can't understand, and that quite frankly, are a waste of of library resources to purchase and to have clutter up space on the shelves.


Some would argue that popularity should be one of a few factors involved and that the award is now too pretentious, getting away from the philosophy o what the award was intended to honor.

In the humble beginnings of the Newbery Award, its founders clearly sought a book that would have broad appeal. As children’s book historian Leonard Marcus reminds us in Minders of Make Believe (Houghton, 2008), back in 1922, when the first Newbery was awarded, ALA allowed any librarian who worked with kids—even part-time librarians—to nominate one title. The Story of Mankind (Liveright, 1921), nominated on 163 of the 212 ballots, won that year. Obviously, the founders cared deeply about the opinions and needs of those who worked directly with children.

Even the name of the award provides clues about the vision behind it. John Newbery, a highly successful publisher, believed that children’s books should offer readers delight and instruction in equal measure. So he searched for materials that would be both popular and profitable. I have no doubt that he would have published most, if not all, of the 1990s Newbery winners. But what about the more recent ones? To my mind, most of these selections have moved away from the spirit and philosophy of those who established the award.

Source


Questions to consider:

-Has the Newberry Award lost its luster? Should popularity be a factor in considering who gets the award?


-Have you purchased Newberry Award winning books for your children? Why or why not?

-Why should we care what some committee says is an *important* book?

-Do you do a disservice to your child in not having a Newberry in your home?

 

[sparkchaser]

When I was in elementary school, we had a "library class" and one of the things that the school librarian would talk to us about was the Newberry and Caldecott awards, what they were, and what books received each award. The librarian created a buzz about the books and as a result, I read several.

Are school librarians no longer promoting Newberry winners and instead pushing Goosebumps and the like?

 

[dele]

Now it's been a few years since I've followed this award, but I used to love reading Newberry award books. It's a great way to promote books and authours and instill a love of reading in children. I think it would be a shame to get rid of it.

 

[Leeny]

My school librarians always talked to us about this award and the Caldecott at the beginning of every year. I read several of them. I still own several of them. If the award seems to be diminishing, that's a terrible shame. Half of these "popular" books are so poorly written.