⏰ Deadline reminder: Applications for the #GLLLiteraryFoundation close this Friday 9 Jan! Children’s authors — if you live, work or study in Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, Lincolnshire or Dudley, tell your publisher and apply. An amazing opportunity ✨ 🔗 www.better.org.uk/library/gll-...

I’m happy and honoured to share the news that Five Little Friends written by Sean Taylor has been nominated for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration! : ) A huge thank you to the @carnegiemedals.bsky.social judges and brilliant @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social and to Sean for his unique vision! : )

This is very exciting!! Good luck to all the judges and congratulations to all those nominated!!

It was a delight to meet Laura Henry Allain today who ran a fantastic event at Beckenham Library. Brilliant to be with so many families celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth. Thanks so much Laura!

Such a playful celebration of #NationalPoetryDay at Bromley Central library! Sharing Five Little Friends! (Written by Sean Taylor) @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

Huge thanks, Jenny! It was great to talk to all the children about FEAR FILES: HIDE AND SEEK.

CILIP & 6 partners wrote @ Chancellor welcoming £10m investment in school libraries & offering support from our expert members to max long-term impact, & outlined how support for school/public librarians, & School Library Services could do even more for kids e.g. www.greatschoollibraries.org.uk

Today our CEO @louiscoiffait-gunn.bsky.social attended a landmark event celebrating 175 years of the Public Libraries Act at Manchester Central Library with Baroness Twycross and other sector leaders. The event also marked the launch of the sector's new Libraries Alliance pledge.

Two brilliant author events over the past couple of days. Yesterday with @fionawoodcock.bsky.social who ran a wonderful Storytime & today with Christopher Edge who was amazing with Years 5 & 6!

Huge congratulations to Sarah Hagger-Holt who has won the #LittleRebelsAward for an unprecedented second time, this time with THE FIGHTS THAT MAKE US. 🎉👏 @littlerebsprize.bsky.social #UKKidLit booksforkeeps.co.uk/sarah-hagger...

This is my Lokifesto #KidsConf #UKkidlit #edusky lokibooks.com/lokifesto/

📚 Calling all @cilip.bsky.social members! It's that exciting time once more! Join us in nominating your favourite children's and YA books for the 2026 Carnegies. Each member can nominate one exceptional title per Medal. 🏅 🗓️ Submit yours by 26 September carnegies.co.uk/nominations

#YLGConference. @cilipslg.bsky.social @cilip-ylgse.bsky.social In a session talking about the GLL Literary Foundation better.org.uk/glf It’s an excellent foundation supporting new authors.

The book is published this Thursday and the lovely people at @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social are offering a 10% discount on it! Just use the code LOVEBOOKSHOPS uk.bookshop.org/p/books/abou...

I’ve written a book about time and watch-making with the woman who has made, by hand, this masterpiece of a watch www.strutherswatchmakers.co.uk/updates/2025...

EARLY BIRD PRICE ENDS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT: BOOK NOW!! Join the @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social on Saturday 6th September at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne for our annual conference, sponsored by Askews and Holt and Hachette Children’s Group. Book your place here: cilip.org.uk/event/YLG_2025

Join the @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social on Saturday 6th September at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne for our annual conference, sponsored by Askews and Holt and Hachette Children’s Group. Early bird ticket prices are available until 31st July 2025. Book your place here: cilip.org.uk/event/YLG_2025

So exciting to be at the reopening of West Wickham Library today. Loads of people came along to see the newly renovated library. @peterbently.bsky.social ran a wonderful Storytime & we were joined by some other children’s authors & illustrators! Fantastic day! @marcelafwrites.bsky.social

It’s fantastic to see the winners of the Carnegie Medals announced today at the #Carnegies2025 awards ceremony. Huge congratulations to the winners, shortlistees and the judges from CILIP Youth Libraries Group!

Great to see #GLLLiteraryFoundation author Olivia Wakeford at @andersenpress.bsky.social tonight for the @philearle.bsky.social Klaus Flugge salon event. Such a brilliant evening with Caroline Nolan!

We had a lot of fun, finding Empathy for a very bad-tempered and untrustworthy old dragon! @hachettechildrens.bsky.social @jennyhawke.bsky.social @empathylabuk.bsky.social

Happy #EmpathyDay all! Here’s my Empathy Post! @empathylabuk.bsky.social

Libraries across the country have been helping everyone jump into stories! How brilliant does this look?!

Two fantastic class visits with #GLLLiteraryFoundation author @adeolasokunbi, today, part of the #EmpathyDayFestival! Thank you Adeola! @empathylabuk.bsky.social @cilip-ylgse.bsky.social

Really looking forward to @empathylabuk.bsky.social Festival events this week with Bromley Libraries at Beckenham and Bromley @jennyhawke.bsky.social and some wonderful local schools. Will be talking about having empathy for dragons!

Just got home, read this on the bus chuckling almost all the way home! Love this Nathanael Lessore! @cilip-ylgse.bsky.social

Was great to join 40 colleagues yesterday, including some non-members. Please do join the next one, share your ideas in the short survey, and share with others.

Important work by Frank and our partners BookTrust, and great to see the role of different librarians in the 'reading ecosystem' recognised

So proud of how this event went!! Some really amazing insights and knowledge exchange were had! There are so many aspects to the library profession, and I don't think I'll ever tire of learning about them ! #LibraryLife ✨️📚🖤

And so begins our regional training day! Neurodiverse Narratives: Inclusive Libraries For All Minds! Rethinking reading, redesigning spaces, and reshaping libraries for every mind ! We will try to live tweet throughout the day. #YLGSE #NeurodiverseNarratives @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social

We open with our morning Keynote speaker, the incredible Dr Alex Popescu! Speaking on the research of Neurodiversity, and what this means. #NeurodiverseNarratives #YLGSE

We have Jenny from Bromley Libraries & Frances & Louisa from West Sussex Libraries talking about the different sensory and neurodiverse sessions they run in their libraries. #NeurodiverseNarratives #YLGSE @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social

Our chair @octoberjonesco.bsky.social from Wandsworth Libraries takes us on an expert journey making sure our collections are inclusive to neurodiverse people. #NeurodiverseNarratives #YLGSE @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social

Back from lunch and into lived experiences! Katie & Dora from Wandsworth Libraries have been kind enough to share their different experiences in working in libraries as neurodivergent people. Emcee by Louisa @ West Sussex Libraries #NeurodiverseNarratives #YLGSE @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social

Honoured to close our training day with Keynote speaker the amazing @rashmiwriting.bsky.social, an award winning author & literacy advocate! Sharing their own experience & journey. #NeurodiverseNarratives #YLGSE @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social

I get to do the most amazing things these days. Spending time with these incredible champions of reading is RIGHT up there. 💛🌟📚 #KidLitUK

We had a fantastic YLGSE training day today at Westgate Library in Oxford. It was great to share best practice in neurodiverse collection development and sensory Storytimes. Totally inspiring and affirming keynote speech from wonderful author Rashmi Sirdehpande! @cilip-ylgse.bsky.social

This was such a brilliant day!!

A few years ago, I met the incredibly talented Dr Rebecca Struthers - the UK's only watchmaker with a PhD in horology. We immediately hit it off and became friends... and then wrote this book together. Out in August, available to preorder now! geni.us/AboutTimeDK

Enormous thanks to @ylglondon.bsky.social for inviting me to speak at their Teen Training Day today. Myself & colleague Caroline talked about ideas on running teen reading groups. Great to hear keynote speaker & #GLLLiteraryFoundation supported author Nathanael Lessore talk before me. Brill morning!

Lovely #Carnegies2025 shadowing session today with #Chatterbooks. Took up Yu Rong’s challenge & made three dimensional kite pictures! @carnegiemedals.bsky.social

Great to see #GLF25 author @nadinewildpalm.bsky.social featured along with Literary Foundation champion @octoberjonesco.bsky.social talking about the fantastic launch of the #GLLLiteraryfoundation and lovely perspectives on this exciting programme for authors run by libraries!

So proud of Alex Falase Koya, one of our fantastic #GLLLiteraryFoundation authors appearing at #StoriesByTheLake yesterday. Alex’s event was such good fun including a reading, quiz & a drawing activity. Enjoyed by all! @oxfordchildrens.bsky.social

Looking forward to sharing why reading spreads empathy with schools in Bromley and Beckenham in June! Such an important - and fun - festival, this. @jennyhawke.bsky.social

Such a brilliant day promoting Bromley Libraries and the GLL Literary Foundation at the #BooksInTheParkFestival in Beckenham Place Park. Thanks to @booksinthepark.bsky.social for a great event! Loved watching #GLF25 author Jack Meggitt Phillips do his thing! He was so funny!

An absolute delight to attend the launch of The First Year, which is the sequel to the phenomenal The Final Year! Written by Matt Goodfellow and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton. It was also lovely to share the moment with wonderful colleagues & YLG Members ✨️📚🖤 #TheFirstYear #BookLaunch #MGReads

It was such a fun day!

Brilliant to catch up with Margaret Bateson-Hill today when she ran a fantastic event at my library!

Get yourself ready gor the blog tour by reading the first chapter of 'This Song is About Us'. On Saturday, TeenLibrarian will have a guest post from @saramegan.bsky.social #KidLitUK #UKYA @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

Revealed the #Carnegie2025 Medal for Illustration Shortlist today in our #Chatterbooks Shadowing Group! Great excitement! @carnegiemedals.bsky.social @youthlibrarygroup.bsky.social @cilip-ylgse.bsky.social