This past year I had the pleasure of serving on a reading team for the first ever High School Sequoyah Book Award. Our team was drawn from public and school librarians as well as an academic advisor and a member of ODL. Meeting each month to discuss and vote on the books was something to look forward to with satisfaction. As we got to know each other we found out more about different areas of the state as well as the backgrounds of the members. By the end of the year we could almost sense which books would be liked by one and not another. The experience of reading and determining which books are the best of the best in a certain year is a daunting task but an enjoyable one. It causes you to bond with the others on your team in a way that is hard to describe. I have served on the children's reading team before and the members on that team became some of my closest colleagues. We look forward to seeing each other at our annual conference. It is a such an exhilarating experience when you complete and sign off on the list. The next best thing is seeing an author accept the award for one of the books that you deemed to be worthy of inclusion on the list.

Our team began in June with a list of over 300 books to read. Because this was the first committee, a list was compiled by doing a search for 2 or more positive reviews from professional journals which yielded an overwhelming consideration list. The list for next year will be smaller because all of the members will be perusing the reviews before adding to the list. We pared the list down to 15 by February,2009. Now the promotion begins. Booktalks, displays, podcasts and reader's theatre will be used by media specialists and young adult librarians across the state until the voting takes place in March 2010. Which book will win? I already have my choice picked out as do most of the other committee members I am sure. Will the high school students across the state like the books as much as we did. Here's hoping!

I would certainly recommend, that if offered, you take the opportunity to serve as a member of the Sequoyah Award Reading team. It does involve a lot of reading but the rewards are great. You will know more about the books being published in those years than you ever did before or ever will again and you will have such a sense of accomplishment!