Meet the judges

Annie is Director of Authors Aloud UK, an agency organising school visits and tours in the UK and Internationally for children’s authors and publishers. She serves on the committees of the CILIP School Libraries Group, ASCEL, FCBG and the Literacy and Reading section of IFLA. She is also a Trustee for Read for Good. She is a children’s book reviewer and is a judge for the Pupil Library Assistant of the Year Award. She was awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to children’s books and libraries.

Cat is a Support Representative for Coram Beanstalk. She supports volunteers who go into schools and share their love of reading in one-to-one sessions with primary school children. Cat is passionate about encouraging children to read and loves hearing the success stories of those who have switched on to reading!

Deborah Maclaren is a serial entrepreneur, business owner and strong commercial leader who has been in business for 25 years. She has been MD of Love Reading since mid-2018, bringing together her media background, passion for books, her love of literacy, marketing knowledge and her commercial acumen. 

Sara has worked with Coram Beanstalk since 2016, first as a volunteer reading helper and now as a Trainer.  
 
Originally trained as an actor, Sara became a Portage worker, working with pre-school children with additional needs. Following this, Sara spent twelve years as a lecturer in Early Years Development and Education giving her a strong insight into the importance of sharing books with young children. 
 
Sara loves bringing the enjoyment of great books to the children she sees, helping children discover new worlds through a love of reading.

Tim has worked in the education sector for over 10 years and currently leads on National Literacy Trust school programmes and teacher development.  
 
Tim has experience of designing, delivering, and evaluating literacy programmes for primary and secondary schools and has worked with a wide variety of clients during his time at the National Literacy Trust including, Microsoft, The Premier League, Disney and Audible. 

Sue retired from school librarianship in 2018 after 30 years in the sector. Since then she has undertaken a number of voluntary roles in the sector, most recently that of Chair of the SLA 2020/22 and 
continues to advise on all reading and library matters. 
 
Sue is a passionate advocate of reading for pleasure and giving children and young people the information and literacy skills they need to succeed in life. She is a Fellow of CILIP, reached the Honour List for School Librarian of the Year in 2010 and is a former Chair of SLA Central & East Berkshire. She is a regular reviewer for the SLA and has been a judge for numerous book and writing awards.