2021 Panelists and Judges: Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

Cybils Awards

Round 1 Sandy Brehl Unpacking the Power of Picture Books Twitter: @SandyBrehl and @PBWorkshop Instagram: @sandybrehl Genevieve Ford Goodreads Twitter: @genevieveford1 Kelly Karsner-Clarke   Kidlit Underground Twitter: @kellylkc Instagram: @kidlitunderground Mary Duffy   Just Read Journal Instagram: @JustReadJournal Susan Dobrodt Goodreads Twitter: @redcanoereader Instagram: @redcanoereader Heidi Grange   Geo Librarian Twitter: @GeoLibrarian Reshama Deshmukh  Stacking Books Twitter: @Stackingbks Instagram: @Stackingbks Round …

2021 Judges and Panelists: Easy Reader/Early Chapter Books

Cybils Awards

Round 1 Pamela  Thompson McLeod Books by Pamela Thompson Twitter: @MostlyMcLeod Claire Noland A Field Trip Life Twitter: @claire_noland Instagram: @clairesfieldtriplife Pam Jones-Nill Pam Jones-Nill Children’s Author Twitter: @pjonesnill Sheri Howard Lobit Library Newsletter Brooke Freebairn Brooke Freebairn Twitter: @thebrookelist Instagram: @thebrookelist Round 2 Benji Martin Elementary School Library Twitter: @MrBenjiMartin Instagram: @MrBenjiMartin Laura Trapp Trapped Librarian Twitter: @ltrapp13 Instagram: @thetrappedlibrarian …

2021 Panelists and Judges: Fiction Picture Books

Round 1 Kirsti Call Kirsti Call, Children’s Book Author/ ReFoReMo  Goodreads Twitter: @kirsticall Instagram: @kirsticall Nicole Levesque Bluestocking Thinking  Twitter: @BlueSockGirl Instagram: @BluestockingThinking Deb Nance Readerbuzz  Goodreads Twitter: @debnance Instagram: @debnance Lynne Marie Pisano My Word Playground  Twitter: @Literally_Lynne Sam Richardson Little Cub Literacy Twitter: @lilcubliteracy Instagram: @littlecubliteracy Maggi Rohde Goodreads  Twitter: @mama_librarian Aimee Smith Keep a Book About  Twitter: …

NEW YA Speculative Fiction Chair: Jenna Ehler

Jenna Ehler was that kid who was constantly in the library or reading at home, or even getting in trouble at school for reading under the desk instead of paying attention! She grew up in a small town and spent many hours in her local library, which turned into her first library job as a shelver at age sixteen. After …

NEW High School NonFiction Chair: Beth Mitcham

Beth Mitcham was a special case. Her junior high librarians ruled that for weeding purposes, she did not count towards a book’s check-out statistics, because she had read all the books. This love of reading continued through her college career, where she continued to search out public libraries because those college institutions just weren’t enough. She never stopped reading children’s …

NEW Graphic Novels Chair: Kristen Harvey

Kristen Harvey is an elementary school Library Media Specialist in the suburbs of Chicago and has worked with diverse populations for over 10 years. From a young age, she dreamed of becoming a librarian and while training to become a teacher in college she spent her time working in a variety of public and college libraries. For several years she …

Introducing Our New Chairs

Cybils Awards

That makes it sound like we actually got some furniture in this place, doesn’t it?  Actually, we have three new category organizers, and I think it would be good to introduce them to y’all. Their individual posts will run shortly. If you haven’t gone to check out our entire organizing team (there has been a bit of shuffling around this …

In Memorium: Teri Lessene

Cybils Awards

We here at Cybils are saddened to learn of the death of Teri Lesesne, @librarynana. As well as being a professional colleague and personal friend to many of us, Teri brought her enthusiasm and knowledge of children’s books to the Cybils Awards, serving as a panelist for many years. Her family has asked that donations be made in honor of …

2021 Cybils are Here: A Call for Judges

We’re limping towards normal around here, slowly but surely. Publishing seems to be back on track, and there have been a good number of excellent children’s and young adult books out this year. So, what better way to get past division and stress and anxiety about the state of the world than to volunteer for the Cybils? (I can’t think …

Save the Date: It’s Time to Think about Applying!

It’s difficult to believe that six months have gone by since we announced our 2020 winners, and yet here we are: it’s the start of another Cybils Awards Season! We will be opening up our volunteer applications shortly, so keep an eye out for that. If you haven’t engaged with us this summer on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and (now: look …