Joy Court is co – founder of All Around Reading, having previously managed the Schools Library Service in Coventry, where she established the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards and the Literally Coventry Book Festival, as well as being the Reviews Editor of The School Librarian and for ten years was Chair of the CILIP organising committee for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. She now just concentrates on books and libraries as a freelance consultant while continuing to be an activist with the Youth Libraries Group and sits on the National Executive of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups. She is an Editorial Expert for LoveReading4 Kids and regularly reviews for Books for Keeps. She has chaired and spoken on panels at festivals and conferences around the UK as well as delivering keynotes and workshops.

She is a Trustee and library representative member of the National Council of UKLA, where she sits on the selection panel for the UKLA Book Awards and supports their administration as co-convenor of the Awards Committee. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of The English Association and an Honorary Fellow of CILIP. Author of Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in reading for pleasure ( FACET 2011)  and Reading by Right: successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed ( FACET 2017) .