Beth Davis — ‘Books can be your friend’

Beth Davis has fulfilled a lifetime dream.

She was one of just eight school librarians from across the United States to serve on the William C. Morris Young Adult Debut Award Committee for 2022.

When she applied for the post, Davis thought she wouldn’t be chosen, reasoning, “Nobody’s going to pick … a librarian from a small library and I haven’t done anything so phenomenal.”

Many would beg to differ with her modest self description. She has been Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s secondary school librarian for 26 years where she fulfills a wide variety of roles and is now serving students who are children of students she originally served.

When she got the letter asking her to be on the committee, Davis screamed with joy.

“I did not realize the amount of work involved, but I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she says in this week’s Enterprise podcast.

The committee was chaired by Patty Gonzales Ramirez who lives in Texas. The other members besides Davis were Kit Ballenger, Rebecca Caufman, Michelle Cheng, Kara Hunter, Beth Kirchenberg, and liaison Ellen Wickham.

Davis and her counterparts each read scores of books written by first-time authors for readers age 12 to 18 and then met extensively, through their computers, to finally winnow the selection to five finalists and ultimately a first-place winner.

Davis herself read over 200 books up for the award. And 200 new books are being donated to the BKW Secondary School library because of her efforts.

The Morris Award, first given in 2009, is named for a beloved publisher who promoted literature for children and teens.

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