Ian McLean, Stacey Taylor, guest speaker Maurice Saxby, Paul Macdonald and Alinda Sheerman at the School Libraries Association, NSW Awards at The Children’s Bookshop, Beecroft, last night. Paul is the proprietor of the shop… and so much more! He was receiving the inaugural Maurice Saxby Award.

The John H Lee Memorial Award is for a teacher-librarian who demonstrates “excellence in leadership in innovative and collaborative teaching practice through the integration of learning technologies”. Presented to Ian McLean (Penrith PS), of the PMBW Committee. Many thanks to Linda Gibson-Langford who nominated him! This is a joint award presented by SLA NSW and Charles Sturt University. Ashley Freeman presented the award.

Maurice Saxby is sharing a poem, chosen at random, from a well-loved book he received at age five. Captivating! (Even the bear was mesmerised.) Maurice described that magic moment where a child is immersed in reading and suddenly gets a cold chill at the back of the neck. CS Lewis called this unique sensation “Surprise by joy.”

PMBW’s Chairperson Jenny Scheffers (Caddies Creek Public School) with Ian McLean and the School Libraries & Information Literacy Unit’s Colleen Foley at The Children’s Bookshop. Book rappers extraordinaire!