FOCAL Award Ceremony
Two weeks ago, on Saturday, November 14 at 1:00pm, FOCAL held its annual awards ceremony online on Zoom. (FOCAL, Friends of Children and Libraries, is the support group of the Los Angeles Public Library children's services.)
This year’s award went to Todos Iguales: Un Corrido de Lemon Grove/All Equal: A Ballad of Lemon Grove by Christy Hale, author/Illustrator. Children in the Los Angeles schools were invited to write essays after reading the book. The winners of the writing contest read their essays telling how the book connected with their lives and why they would like to meet author Christy Hale. Christy Hale responded to their questions and then gave an inspirational keynote speech. Puppets made by Jesse Kingsley and Moira Lael Macdonald depicting the main character from the book were then presented--one for the author and the other to be part of the permanent collection at LAPL. The program concluded with FOCAL president Caroline Gill thanking all attendees, speakers and supporters of FOCAL and LAPL for coming.
My traditional role at this event has been as photographer. This year, because of the pandemic, the event was virtual, and my role as photographer was to make screen shots. The picture above depicts author and award winner Christy Hale, Brooke Sheets the award committee chair, and puppet makers Jesse Kingsley and Moira Lael Macdonald. I hope that by this time next year, the event will be a luncheon as it has always been in the past and I can use my camera again. Meanwhile, the screen shots will provide a record of this year’s event.
