Just in case you missed it earlier – the call for Cybils judges for this year went out a few weeks ago, but you still have one week left to apply to be a Cybils judge yourself!

Though the Cybils have been in existence for more than a decade now, I have been a judge for just the past five of them.  I highly recommend the experience!  I have always been a Round 1 panelist, which means I spend a couple of months trying to read all the nominated books in my category.  I really love the broad view of the category, the intensive discussions with my fellow panelists, and coming up with a list of stellar choices for any kid interested in the category.

But, if the thought of trying reading dozens of books in a couple of months feels like too much for you, you could also apply to be a round 2 judge, and select a winner from the much shorter list of finalists.

Though I really recommend the Cybils judging experience, and new judges are always needed, if you aren’t able to be a judge at all, now is still a good time to start looking at the different categories and think about what you might want to nominate, because the Cybils works by having a very large pool of people nominating all those books for the judges to read! But, please do consider being a judge as well…