Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of IBBY UK

7th April, 2011, at Orion Books, 5 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2 9EA

The AGM was followed by guest speakers Linda Newbery and Caroline Lawrence.

1. Welcome and apologies

Members in attendance were: Julie Barton, Clive Barnes, Marianne Bradnock, Carol Thompson, Sue Mansfield, Diana Barnes, Mary Green, Isabel Parrado, Di Hofmeyr, Jennie Thomas, Angela McNally, Elizabeth Laird, John Newman, Kay Waddilove, Jennifer Harding, Chris Kloet, Ann Lazim, Pat Pinsent, Prue Godwin, Pam Dix, Jo McCrum, John Burningham, Judith Philo and Marilyn Malin. (Quorum = 15). Non-members in attendance were: Sian Hardy and Lynda Nichols

Apologies were received from: Bridget Carrington, John Dunne, Gillian Cross, Margaret Strain, Jaki Brier, Opal Dunn, Nicolette Jones, Nicholas Smith, Sophie MacKay, Kathleen Milne and Michelle Gill

Clive Barnes (chair) welcomed everyone, and thanked Orion Books, and in particular Nina Douglas for hosting the occasion.

2. Minutes of the last AGM and matters arising

In paragraph 4 in the discussion arising from the Treasurer’s Report last year there was a proposal that two cards be devised, a ‘thank you’ one and a more generic holiday one, the uses of which might contribute to raising funds for IBBY. Clive Barnes (chair) acknowledged that due to the considerable volume of business for the committee this year, particularly in relation to IBBY UK’s application for charitable status and next year’s International Conference, this proposal had not yet been taken forward. The Minutes were agreed.

3. Chair’s report (previously circulated)

Clive Barnes (chair) paid tribute to the lead taken by Pam Dix and her achievement over IBBY’s successful application to the Charity Commission during the last year which had involved drawing up a fresh constitution and rewording of objectives, now only waiting for approval by the AGM.

Recognition was given to Ann Lazim for her many years as Chairperson and Secretary to IBBY UK. She has now relinquished these roles in order to act as joint organiser of the London 2012 Congress. In consequence committee membership has been reconstituted.

The Hans Andersen nominations for this year have been made and, if we were to follow the Constitution, needed retrospective ratification by the AGM.

John Dunne wanted it to be noted that the Christmas Card was at present the main source of raising funds and that further thought was needed to the question of future areas of fund raising.

4. Treasurer and Membership Secretary report (previously circulated)

It was acknowledged, with regret, that the considerable work of amplification required for the achievement of charitable status inevitably curtailed many of the committee’s ambitions for a membership drive for the past year. Julie Barton presented the report with the following points:

• A membership drive was now a priority, with the hope that subscriptions would become the chief source of income, not the Christmas card as at present.
• Renewal of subscriptions to be organised around a fixed date, 1st April; new subscription forms to be sent out by e-mail and post shortly.
• Charitable status gives IBBY UK the benefit of claiming gift aid on subscriptions, which is worth 23p in the £.

5. London 2012 Congress Progress Report (circulated at the meeting and attached)

Ann Lazim updated her report, drawing attention to the following:

• Sue Mansfield has taken on the role of treasurer.
• Imperial College is the prospective venue, costs and prices are due to be obtained.
• An Arts Council grant had enabled promotion of the 2012 Congress at the 2010 Congress at Santiago in Spain. The Congress was also promoted at the Bologna Book Fair this year.
• There would be another opportunity for promotion at an IBBY seminar at the London Book Fair on April 11th.
• Future hosts for the International Congress are Mexico in 2014, New Zealand in 2016.
• Ideas for fund raising and activities are welcomed. There is a possibility of a Big Books project to coincide with the Congress which would feature book sculptures in the area around the Congress venue (similar to the Elephant sculptures recently displayed in London).

6. Change to IBBY UK Constitution to secure charitable status

An object needed to be added to the Constitution agreed last year in order to fulfil the Charity Commission’s criteria. This required the agreement of the AGM.

The section to be inserted in the Constitution had been circulated beforehand and was circulated at the meeting. It reads as follows:

3. OBJECTS

The aims of IBBY UK are:

For the public benefit, to advance education in the subject of children's literature, in particular but not exclusively amongst teachers, librarians, publishers, writers, illustrators, parents, further and higher education students and trainers, by:

i. promoting reading and books for children and young people;

ii. organizing conferences and workshops and the publication of
journals;

iii. disseminating good practice and research findings;

iv. promoting good international relationships through children’s books;

v. working with IBBY international to promote literacy and access to children’s books in all countries and to all children; and

iv. any other charitable activity deemed suitable by the trustees from
time to time

All the above in accordance with the Statutes of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People).

Proposed by Ann Lazim; seconded by Chris Kloet. The motion was carried unanimously. And the meeting being quorate, the change to the Constitution was duly agreed.

7. Increase in IBBY UK subscription rates:
Corporate to £90 (£75); Individual to £30 (£25); Students/Concessions £15 (£10)

There was a brief discussion that the corporate rate be raised to £100; recognition that limited numbers subscribed at present, so £90 was sufficiently ambitious for the present.

The motion was proposed by Elizabeth Laird; seconded by Carol Thompson.  It was carried overall with one abstention.

8. Ratification of Andersen Award nominations.

Philip Pullman, author, and John Burningham, illustrator; both names were endorsed unanimously.

9. Nominations for membership of the IBBY UK Committee

The present members of the committee all agreed to stand again and the membership carried the motion.

10. AOB

No further business was offered and this part of the meeting closed. Nina Douglas, of Orion, our host for the evening, announced that Orion Books had generously prepared a bag for each attendee containing some leaflets, also books by the two guest speakers Linda Newbery and Caroline Lawrence. Chair thanked Orion for their hospitality and generosity on this occasion and thanks were also extended to John Newman for arranging the initial contact with Orion.
 

IBBY Congress 2012. Report to IBBY UK AGM April 7th 2011

The 33rd IBBY World Congress will be held in London August 23rd -26th 2012, the first time it will have been in the UK since it took place in Cambridge in 1982. The venue will be Imperial College.

The theme is Crossing Boundaries: Translations and Migrations and we will be exploring these topics from a variety of angles and viewpoints. These will include translations between languages and the migration of people and the stories they carry with them. It will also encompass translations and migrations across media, for example from book to film or play.

Speakers so far confirmed are:

Shaun Tan, Australian illustrator of The Arrival and The Rabbits both of which deal with themes relating to migration, sponsored by Hodder Children’s Books. Recently he won an Oscar for the Best Short Animated Film for The Lost Thing and it was announced last week that he is this year’s recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Patsy Aldana, former President of IBBY and publisher of Groundwood Books in Canada where she has published many translated and culturally diverse books.

Emer O’Sullivan of Lüneberg University in Germany who has written and lectured extensively about children’s literature in translation, including Kinderliterarische Komparatistik.

In addition to individual plenary speakers, panels and ‘in conversation’ sessions on a range of relevant topics are being planned.

Further information about speakers will be posted on the Congress 2012 website as it becomes available and people are invited to register for updates.

There will be parallel sessions too. The call for papers for these is now live on the website with a deadline for submission of June 30th 2011.

The programme will be available in December 2011 and congress registration will open in January 2012.

Shortly following the 2010 IBBY UK AGM, Nikki Gamble resigned as Congress Director and Ann Lazim and Kathy Lemaire took over as Co-directors. They are working with a congress organising committee, the IBBY UK committee, an advisory group and IBBY’s international EC. The congress organising committee has a programme sub-committee and a translation sub-committee. Sue Mansfield has just taken on the role of Treasurer. Thanks are due to Scholastic for hosting the advisory group and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education and Battersea Library (Wandsworth) for allowing us space for other meetings.

An Arts Council grant enabled a delegation of five (Kathy, Ann, Kathleen Milne, Daniel Hahn and Patrick Ryan) to attend the IBBY congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain last September where we distributed our poster, designed by Anthony Browne and sponsored by Walker Books, and our leaflet. There was considerable interest in attending the 2012 congress.

Last week, Kathy and Ann along with Pam Dix and Ian Dodds attended the Bologna Children’s Book Fair to promote the congress. Ann and Kathy also met with the IBBY EC and made a presentation at the IBBY press conference.

Next week at the London Book Fair, there will be a seminar organised and chaired by Bhavit Mehta, arranged with the intention of raising the profile of the congress and IBBY UK in general. Panel members will be Philip Pullman, Aidan Chambers, Beverley Naidoo and Piet Grobler. Our leaflets will also be distributed at other relevant seminars at the fair.

Two potential projects associated with the congress which will be described briefly at the AGM are:
a) The Big Books project
b) A Children’s festival

How IBBY UK members can help with the Congress:

1/ Publicity

If you are attending a conference or event where it would be possible to distribute leaflets and posters, please contact Ann Lazim - annlazim@googlemail.com

2/ Fundraising

• Could you organise a fund raising event, say a coffee morning, a reading group or, maybe, a concert?
• Do you know of any companies that might be interested in our conference commercially as a marketing opportunity; or companies and charities that might be interested in supporting it, for instance by paying the fee for a delegate from a developing country? Could you let us have the name of the appropriate person to approach in that company.

Please contact Kathy Lemaire - kathy.lemaire@btinternet.com