Better support for authors – the new library initiative

A new foundation to support ‘up and coming’ children’s authors was launched in November by charitable social enterprise and libraries operator GLL.

The GLL Literary Foundation offers up to 20 author bursary placements, alongside a number of additional author support placements, in areas where GLL operates public libraries under its ‘Better’ brand: Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, Dudley and Lincolnshire.

Each author selected for a bursary placement receives £750 as well as further ‘in kind’ support valued at up to £4,000.  Authors are partnered with a specialist local librarian ‘champion’, who will help deliver a series of author events and provide networking opportunities with local booksellers, publishers, literary festivals and schools.  Authors are also offered three online training courses.

In February 2025 the first tranche of successful authors was announced and paired with their ‘Literary Foundation champion’.  Alex Falase Koya, author of the Marv Collection and his ‘champion’, Bromley children’s librarian Caroline Nolan, explain how the scheme works, and describe their hopes and aspirations for the coming year.

Caroline Nolan writes:

The GLL Literary Foundation offers a unique and exciting opportunity to champion and support local authors through our public library partnerships.

I was delighted to be asked to be the Literary Foundation Champion for Bromley Libraries, a mentoring role providing support and guidance to our winning authors, and one of five across the GLL Library Partnerships.  I am responsible for mentoring four of our fantastic group of six published authors – Alex Falase Koya, Adeola Sokunbi, Marcela Ferreira, and Alom Shaha – all of whom are incredibly talented, committed and keen to champion public libraries.

Their work ranges from picture books to highly illustrated children’s fiction and non-fiction, many of which have been shortlisted or have won awards including the Inclusive Children’s Book Awards and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.  All their books, alongside the other GLL authors across the partnerships, are available to borrow from Bromley Libraries and will be badged with a special sticker to make them easily identifiable.  We will be promoting the authors widely and stocking and publicising their books across all our branches.

As part of their commitment, each author will carry out one public and one school event in a nominated library setting, linking to key events such as the Summer Reading Challenge, the EmpathyLab Festival and the Federation of Children’s Book Group’s National Non-Fiction November and National Share A Story Month.  As well as offering advice and assistance with the delivery of these events, I will provide the authors with introductions and networking opportunities with local booksellers, literary festivals, schools and the local community.

It’s always a privilege and a thrill to work with authors and arranging and experiencing a successful author event fuels my passion and enthusiasm for what I do.

It’s always a privilege and a thrill to work with authors and arranging and experiencing a successful author event fuels my passion and enthusiasm for what I do.  To watch a group of children become enthused and inspired by meeting an author is wonderful, especially when even the most reluctant of readers is clamouring to read their books by the end of the session.

As an experienced children’s librarian, I am passionate about getting inclusive books into the hands of children and giving them the opportunity to meet and engage with authors.  Both, I believe, are key to inspiring and fostering a child’s lifelong love of reading for pleasure.  Ensuring that children have access to diverse and inclusive books that represent them and to diverse and inclusive authors is incredibly important.   Author visits are hugely beneficial for children not just in terms of their improved literacy and creativity by also as a way of broadening their horizons and showing them that a career as a writer or part of the wider publishing industry is possible.

Over the course of my career, I have had the pleasure of arranging events with many wonderful authors, most recently alongside my children’s librarian colleagues Jenny Hawke and Ed Zaghini as part of the Bromley Libraries Children’s Team.  This has given me a greater understanding of some of the challenges that authors face.  It’s so important to build a rapport and to make sure our authors feel completely supported in order to help them deliver their best session.  From providing practical advice ahead of the visit, to being on hand to meet and greet, introducing them to colleagues on arrival and ensuring that they are fuelled with their favourite biscuits and beverages!

I’m really looking forward to connecting children to our authors and I know the response is going to be positive and inspiring and a potentially life-changing experience for many of these children.

I’m incredibly excited to be part of this brilliant initiative and feel extremely lucky to be championing such an incredible cohort of authors at Bromley Libraries.

Alex Falase Koya writes:

Being an author is a funny old business. I remember when I was unpublished (and in between spending lots of time trying desperately to become published), I used to imagine what my publishing life would be like.

I imagined that my life would be very solitary after my book came out. I would sit in my room with my cats, write my little children’s books, edit them, and sometimes see them on shelves. That would be the end of it.

I spent years thinking that was the case. Then I got published, and I quickly realised that I was completely wrong. Books don’t just magically appear in children’s hands. Libraries, schools, and other places where children’s authors can connect with children are so important. But, knowing these things are important only gets you so far.

Becoming a published author doesn’t come with a manual. You have to figure out so many things by yourself.

Schools seem like a good place to start, they have lots of kids, but how do I even contact them? Libraries are all around me, but how can I build relationships with librarians? How can I get invited to talk to the people who might be interested in reading my books? Events seem like a good way to connect with my audience, so should I do events? And if I do, what should my events be?

I remember being terrified of the idea of events because I didn’t know how I would entertain children for an hour.

All those questions I mentioned earlier don’t even begin to cover all the information I didn’t know about being a children’s author. One big example is PLR, Public Lending Right. I didn’t realise that libraries paid authors money based on how many people borrowed their books.

This lack of knowledge makes it really hard to navigate the children’s literature ecosystems (libraries, schools, literature festivals), which is a problem as these ecosystems are essential for promoting children’s books. As an author, I’m not just a robot that prints out words, I have to be a business, able to market and promote myself. That’s really difficult.

All of this is why I’m really excited about the GLL Literary Foundation.

It’s really encouraging to see the GLL reach out to local children’s authors to try and help them with these problems. I especially love the fact that this focuses on local authors.

Children’s authors and libraries ultimately want the same thing.

Children’s authors and libraries ultimately want the same thing. We just want kids to find and read books that they love. I think that the connection between children and the books they read can be made even stronger when the books are written by authors who are local to them. It makes being an author feel not like something completely foreign but something that’s actually possible. It also means having authors that represent the diversity of children’s communities.

When I think of the GLL Literary Foundation, I’m really looking forward to building stronger relationships with libraries and the librarianswho do so much good work to get children reading.

I also don’t think I’m the best at marketing myself (I don’t even have a website), so I’m looking forward to learning a lot about that.

I’m also really excited about the events that I’ll do as part of the Literature Foundation. The opportunity to visit libraries and schools and talk to kids is invaluable, and I’ll always be grateful for that opportunity.

Thanks to librarian Caroline Nolan and author Alex Falase Koya for their contributions. Expect regular updates on the progress of the GLL Literary Foundation in future issues of Books for Keeps.