Steering boats downriver: how the GLL Literary Foundation project is faring

The GLL Literary Foundation, established to support ‘up and coming’ children’s authors was officially launched in March of this year by charitable social enterprise and libraries operator GLL. It provides 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.

Authors are partnered with a specialist local librarian ’champion’, who help deliver a series of author events and provide networking opportunities with local booksellers, publishers, literary festivals and schools.  Authors are also offered online training courses.

Books for Keeps has been following its progress with interest. As it reaches the midpoint of the authors’ Foundation programme, in addition to public and school events in person, the authors are now starting to deliver online events. GLL Literary Foundation Trustee Mo O’Hara ran an online webinar alongside Head of the Foundation Rebecca Gediking and Vice Chair Jenny Hawke exploring the different options for online events. Mo shared tips and tricks for presenting and engaging audiences online.

Mary Auld, one of the authors from Lincolnshire, writes below about her experience of delivering an online event to a local primary school.  Literary Champions for Lincolnshire, Fabiola Nosenzo and Nicky Grigg, have also written below about their experience of supporting the Lincolnshire authors.

Steering a boat downriver: author Mary Auld reports on her experience

I was so pleased to be awarded a GLL Literary Foundation place for Lincolnshire. I had been involved in children’s books throughout my career, starting in editorial (under my real name of Rachel Cooke). When I became freelance, I focused more on writing (as Mary Auld). However, as my book count increased, I was aware I had not done much to raise my author profile or, most importantly, interact with my audience: children. The programme has presented me with an amazing opportunity to rectify this, and I am grateful to the Foundation for giving it to me.

From the outset, the Foundation has kept me busy – and kept me learning! On a digital level, there have been online teach-ins, both practical and inspirational, from working on your author ‘brand’ to the importance of empathy. We also received advice about the variety of online author events and how best to handle them. I was able to put this learning into practice when I presented to the children of a primary school in two different classrooms simultaneously, reading my book Start Small, Think Big: Fluffy, Flying Seed (published by Mama Makes Books).

I was nervous as it was the first online event I had done but reassured to have both Jenny and Rebecca from GLL online with me. My earlier training from them with the wonderful input of Mo O’Hara proved really useful. It prepared me for the oddness of presenting over the web and the muted (quite literally) response you get. It also gave me tips on how to make the event as interactive as possible.

I was able to share the book on screen as I read (I was a pop-up in the corner). The teachers acted as intermediaries – in this case verbally – so I could ask the children questions and get them to point out details of Dawn Cooper’s colourful illustrations on the screen. It helped that I could see the children and adjust my presentation to their expressions! I felt the kids enjoyed themselves, were interested in the book – and learnt a lot, perhaps more than in an in-person event. They asked some good questions at the end. I will feel confident doing more online presentations in the future.

And I will also feel more confident doing in-person events. Mentored by Nicola Grigg and helped by all the Lincolnshire Libraries team, I have shared books, chatted and created with a huge variety of kids. I have had such fun interacting with them and just love their enthusiasm, the look of concentration on their faces and their excellent (if sometimes random) questions. I hope I am learning the art of presenting to children – it’s like steering a boat downriver, you have to keep control but also go with the flow.

I still have events to come (including one for an adult audience – now that is scary!) but, so far, my experience as a GLL Literary Foundation author has been great. I have built my confidence as a presenter and had lots of other guidance to help my career. I have also really enjoyed meeting my fellow authors, with a shout out to the other two Lincolnshire authors – Bethany Walker and Helen Hancocks. Finally, I have found my visits to Lincolnshire Libraries and the children’s sections so heartening – they are real centres of the community and, in a time of huge change, places that will continue to nurture and grow a life-long love of reading. As an author, I can only say thank you for that.

Fabiola Nosenzo on delivering in libraries

Being the GLL Literary Foundation Champion for Lincolnshire is an incredibly rewarding experience. We have the privilege of supporting three outstanding authors – Bethany Walker, Mary Auld, and Helen Hancocks – whose work brings imagination, curiosity, and creativity to life for children across our communities.

Each author offers something unique:

Bethany Walker infuses her stories with humour and heart, capturing the challenges and triumphs of growing up with warmth and wit.

Mary Auld brings science and storytelling together, helping children explore the world around them with wonder and clarity.

Helen Hancocks creates visually captivating books that blend quirky characters with clever narratives, sparking joy and artistic inspiration.

Through our Lincolnshire libraries, we connect these authors directly with children and families. It’s inspiring to see how their stories resonate with children, sparking curiosity, laughter, and a genuine love of reading. Through author visits, workshops, and library events, we create meaningful moments where young readers not only discover new books but also meet the authors behind them. Watching young readers do this is nothing short of magical. It strengthens the bond between our libraries and the community, and it reminds us how powerful storytelling can be in shaping young imaginations.

Championing Bethany, Mary, and Helen is not just an honour. It’s a chance to help build a culture of reading and writing that will shape lives for years to come. The GLL Literary Foundation makes this possible, and I’m proud to be part of it.

GLF mentor Nicky Grigg on working with Mary Auld

It has been so interesting for me to work with a Non-Fiction author for children as a GLF mentor, so often in my career in libraries I have worked with fiction authors. Mary writes the most beautiful non-fiction books which during our class visits and events engaged and educated children about our natural world and the joy of orchestral music. Mary has worked with schools for some years and has presentations, handouts, colouring and inspiring worksheets which allows children to create art around the themes of the books. It was lovely to see children and families engage with the topics and enjoy the events at Lincoln Library.

During the process of working with the three Lincolnshire authors I realised how interesting the publishing world was. Many questions jumped into my mind, such as, how do you get a book published? Do you have to have an agent?  How do you come up with ideas and what format do you use as an author to present these ideas to publishers? I realised that this process might also be interesting to other budding authors, so I asked Beth, Mary and Helen if they would consider doing a Q&A evening for a different audience, grown-ups! They all loved the idea and alongside this we decided to have an exhibition showing the authors workspaces, ideas books, work ups of words and layouts and how and when the illustrators come on board with the process of getting a book from concept to print.  I am sure these two events will inspire new authors to come forward and benefit from the GLL Literary Foundation in the future and we can continue to support our authors for years to come.