In 2006, I signed up for a “little” project with a group of intrepid book bloggers thinking it was a small thing to do and I wanted to help. The little project was the Cybils. At the time, I believed wholeheartedly that it was important and wonderful, but wouldn’t be much work. I was both right and wrong. The Cybils ARE important and wonderful. It is however, a lot of work. Worthy, awe-inspiring work, but toil nonetheless.
The Cybils has turned out to be one of the most worthy things I’ve done in my life. I have grown as a reader and writer; and met fabulous and bookishly wonderful people – some almost encyclopedias of literacy. I have made lasting and wonderful friendships based on a love of the books and the mission of showcasing the best of those to the community at large. My life has had ups and downs during my time with the Cybils – jobs lost, an illness discovered, battled and won, family struggles, jobs gained, a new life made, travels and trials and through it all my friends at the Cybils, as well as the books sustained me.
We work hard. We read tons. We do it for free. We hunt down books in stores, online, in used bookshops, at yard sales (I do) and most importantly of all, in libraries those powerhouses of knowledge that are sadly underfunded – all to try to lessen our impact on the publisher’s pocket when requesting review copies. We take our missions seriously. We read, assess, discuss, argue even about those books. We work on determining what will, in the end be a handful of books that win. We rest easy though completely drained and exhausted knowing that our toil helped to pick the best of the best.
My life has irrevocably changed because of the work and love I found in the Cybils. I’ve read books I otherwise never would have come across, I’ve learned from fellow members/judges/organizers, I’ve clung to that mission of finding just the best book ever in my category while everything else seemed to be falling out of control and I’ve found an incredibly soul-satisfying peace in the work I put out for the Cybils. I am a better reader, a better author and a better person because of this. Year after year, the work gets to be MORE. More books, more categories, more competition, more things to decide and deal with and it can be daunting, yet I never hesitate when that call comes round. I raise my hand, I step into the fray and sometimes, during it, I yank out my hair – but there is never, ever a doubt in my mind that I should refrain from it. Scale back in terms of life’s challenges and work, but not do something? NEVER.
Go! Apply! Be a Cybils judge. You’ll yank out your hair, you’ll read more books than you probably want to, you will learn and grow and you will find the most amazing of friends. At the end of it, you will wonder how you ever did without them.
