Reinstate Kate Greenaway's name on CILIP illustration award, a statement by Dr Rose Roberto and Tamsin Roswell, petition creators

Removing the name of an influential female illustrator from the name of a prize for illustration to replace it with someone's name who isn't relevant makes no sense.

I used Kate Greenaway as an example in my degree dissertation.

Credit where it is due!

There is no sensible reason for this change and there are several against it. Illustrators, especially female ones, do not get enough recognition as it is, and this misguided decision would make it worse.

Why change the name? Name an illustration award after an illustrator.

To rename this prestigious award just for branding purposes, for shame!

I can't believe anyone would think changing the name was a good idea. There is so little named after females because their work was constantly underrated because of their sex, to rename this award is both arrogant and an insult. Read the room.

Now this is erasure, erasing a woman, and an illustrator, and the history of the award, allegedly for simplicity. Actually it will be very confusing as people will no longer understand that excellence in writing has been recognised when a book is awarded a Carnegie Medal, but rather they will need to identify which Carnegie Medal was awarded.

Kate Greenaway should be remembered - Carnegie is already well represented.

It is insulting to all kinds of artists, and unnecessary to rename this award just for reasons of branding. But the fact that it is erasing a female illustrator's name makes it egregious.

The new name is horrible. Call it just the Kate Greenway medal or leave it as it was. Get rid of Yoto which is meaningless and a horrid sound

I think the Carnegie name is on plenty already and he is unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon. Kate Greenaway on the other hand, whilst a significant figure in her field, likely owes much of the general public's awareness to this award, which gets prominent coverage every year. This decision runs counter to the prevailing trends in our cultural life, which are towards, not away from, celebrating women's achievements which have been undervalued and hidden for centuries. Far better to rename the Writing medal so that another deserving woman can be named alongside Kate Greenaway. This is plain wrong, tin-eared and emblematic of a "we know best" policy that cultural gatekeepers have applied for centuries to deny women their due.

Another woman airbrushed from our shared national heritage. Please do reinstate the Greenaway name to the awards.

I completely agree with you. I always thought a writer, such as Edward Lear, would be a good choice.

It's important that an influential illustrator's name be on an award for illustrators, especially as Kate Greenaway was a woman. Women are still not recognised or celebrated enough for their achievements in our society. It is wrong to change the name of the award to a man's name. Men get plenty of recognition and celebration and there is already a Carnegie award for writers (though why it isn't named after a writer I don't know, I imagine it's something to do with money - it usually is.)

The decision was made without consulting librarians.

Ego didn't motivate Kate Greensway. Profession should have stood up to this.

I'm 100% behind this. Children's books are composite works of art, with the words and pictures dancing together. Let's put Kate Greenaway's name back on the award.

Such beautiful illustrations.

It’s a travesty that artistic merit is trumped by financial and business acumen. This is an award for artistic merit!