Awards

=Awards=

The Judy Bull Award is presented annually by the Catholic Primary Teacher Librarians’ Association (CPTLA) Inc. The prize consists of a monetary amount that is to be used for professional development in the area of teacher-librarianship. The CPTLA wish to use The Judy Bull Award to further the professional development of a Teacher-Librarian by making it possible for the successful candidate to attend the CPTLA Conference or some other form of professional development. The candidate should be a financial member of the CPTLA and submit their nomination in writing prior to the AGM at the CPTLA Annual Conference. The application should state the benefits gained by the sponsorship, the nature of the professional development and what the applicant hopes to achieve by their attendance. The CPTLA executive will consider all submissions and will make a final decision which will be announced at the CPTLA conference. The successful candidate will need to prepare an article detailing some aspect of their professional development that is of interest to the wider Teacher-Librarian community. The article will be placed on the CPTLA website. Applications can be emailed to enquiries@cptla.com.au The award is named after Judy Bull, who was a library consultant with the Catholic Education Office, Sydney during the 1980’s. Judy began working for the CEO in 1978, where she joined Kay Lynch (later Edwards) as a library consultant. Kay left the CEO a couple of years later. At the time of joining there were no staff allocations for Teacher-Librarians, but the Whitlam Government, before its dismissal, had budgeted to provide funding for resources to primary school libraries. This scheme was continued on by the new government. In 1980, the CEO appointed Teacher-Librarians within the staffing allocations for the first time. There were many people willing to work one day a week as a Teacher-Librarian, but unfortunately, none had formal qualifications. Kay produced a set of instructions on everything you needed to know to run a school library. They came to be affectionately known as “The blue sheets”. Judy later updated these sheets, but they remained blue. In 1981, with the assistance of Greta Knudsen, (a lecturer at the Catholic Teacher’s College in Literacy and a trained teacher librarian) Judy began a series of library training courses. These courses started as two weeks in duration and progressed to three weeks as later courses were run. The courses ceased in 1984, when the majority of people working in Catholic schools at the time had been trained and the Graduate Diploma in Teacher Librarianship at Riverina College of Advanced Education had become established (it began in 1982). Prior to that the only Teacher-Librarian course available, where a degree was required for entry (or a Bachelor of Arts) was that at Macquarie University, specializing in librarianship. It was during the second of these courses that Judy conceived the idea of a conference for teacher librarians and the first conference was held at the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath in 1984. Judy continued to work for the CEO in the role of Library Consultant until 1988, when she became the Teacher-Librarian at Holy Family School at Menai. Once Judy left the CEO, her position was not continued and there is no longer a Library Consultant. Over the years, Judy has contributed much to the role of Teacher-Librarians, and it is fitting that an award devoted to continuing professional development and career advancement, is named after her.
 * __ The Judy Bull Award __**
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