YLG News

London YLG Branch Report – July 2003

In May the group held a training day on storytelling called Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? It started with an introduction by Ann Lazim from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, and was followed by workshops on various aspects of story reading and storytelling. The course was well attended and the feedback from delegates was very good. The next training course will be held in October. It will be called A Passion for Books and will look at various aspects of promoting books and reading to children and young people, including sessions on book talking and reviewing, as well as practical ideas for activities for reading groups.

Members were invited to attend an evening author event with Pete Johnson in May following the launch of his new book Faking It. Those members who attended enjoyed the evening and the hospitality from Puffin. Future evening events include an evening with Mary Hooper in September held in partnership with Bloomsbury. Mary will be talking about her new book At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, which has a London theme. There will also be a panel discussion of new children’s and teenage writers, possibly chaired by Kevin Brooks, in November.

The half-day committee meeting will be held on 11 July. This will elect the officers and set the programme for next year. It will also provide the opportunity to look at the Mayor of London’s Draft Children and Young People’s Strategy, which talks about the role of library services for children and young people in London, before drafting a response from the group.

Ian Dodds
Chair, YLG London