2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced

Egan, Alexie receive honor for excellence in fiction and nonfiction

February 11, 2018

The American Library Association (ALA) selects Manhattan Beach (Scribner) by Jennifer Egan as the winner of the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir (Little, Brown) by Sherman Alexie as the winner of the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

The selections were announced February 11 at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Book and Media Awards sponsored by NoveList, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

From New York mobsters to the first woman diver at the Brooklyn Naval Station during WWII to the archetypally motley crew of a merchant-marine ship in U-boat-infested waters, Egan’s Manhattan Beach portrays intriguing individuals during wartime.

Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir is told in prose and poetry and pays tribute to his Spokane Indian mother. The memoir reveals many complex traumas and tragedies of reservation life as well as Alexie’s own struggles.

“It has been an honor to be part of the dedicated committee selecting the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal winners,” said award committee chair Victoria Caplinger, director of book discovery at NoveList. “We are very excited to finally get to share this news—it has been hard keeping it to ourselves. We hope many readers enjoy these books—both the winners and the finalists—as much as we have.”

“Today’s selections illustrate how the expertise of librarians and library staff can help lead efforts to support adult literacy by identifying titles that resonate with adult readers,” said ALA President Jim Neal. “Today’s medal selections will serve as a guide for those who are looking for the best of the best in fiction and nonfiction for adult readers, thus transforming lives through education and lifelong learning.”

The 2018 fiction finalists included Lincoln in the Bardo (Random House) by George Saunders and Sing, Unburied, Sing (Scribner) by Jesmyn Ward. Nonfiction finalists included The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner (Bloomsbury) by Daniel Ellsberg and Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (Doubleday) by David Grann.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, established in 2012, serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material. They are the first single-book awards for adult books given by ALA and reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals and booksellers who work closely with adult readers.

Carnegie Medal winners will each receive $5,000. All the finalists will be honored during a celebratory event at ALA’s 2018 Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans in June. The medals are made possible in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York in recognition of Andrew Carnegie’s deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world and are cosponsored by ALA’s Booklist and RUSA.

More information on the awards can be found at ala.org/carnegieadult.

Tagged Under

Junot Díaz Gets Real

Pulitzer Prize–winner discusses his love—and tough love—for libraries

Legal Issues

PLA-sponsored forum surfaced contentious constitution situations in public libraries

Latest Library Links

12h

Max Eddy writes: “It’s a nightmare scenario: You’ve protected all of your online accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA), but then your phone is broken, lost, or stolen, and you’re locked out of everything. Past You’s effort to protect Future You has made Present You’s life a living hell. 2FA is supposed to keep attackers and scammers out of your online accounts, but what if something happens to your second factor? With a little planning, you can reduce that risk and still keep your accounts safe.”

New York Times Wirecutter, Apr. 12
16h

Nik Altenberg writes: “About 100 librarians and their supporters rallied outside San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library on April 9 to demand the city hire security guards for every branch. Workers decried a lack of security at most of the city’s branches and said they are often forced to de-escalate volatile situations and step into the role of providing security themselves. The rally is the latest in a series of union actions [from 10 unions representing more than 25,000 city workers across city departments] seeking to draw attention to what they say is a pervasive understaffing crisis.”

KQED-TV (San Francisco), Apr. 9
1d

“Two years after Brooklyn Public Libraries’ (BPL) launch of Books Unbanned, an initiative to protect the freedom to read for young people, In Their Own Words: Youth Voices on Books Unbanned gives new insight into the impact of censorship on teen and young adults across the US and how restrictions and other barriers to access build upon and reinforce each other. The new report, published April 11 by BPL and Seattle Public Library, analyzes 855 stories shared by young people who signed up for a free Books Unbanned ecard from April 2022 through December 2023.”

Seattle Public Library, Apr. 11
2d

Samantha Guss, Sojourna Cunningham, and Jennifer Stout write: “Recruitment and retention are both critical to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in academic libraries, and failing to improve retention has and will continue to derail these initiatives. Research that addresses retention tends to focus on proposed strategies, such as stay interviews (structured interviews aimed at strengthening employee and employer relationships) and mentorship programs. But there is no agreed-upon definition of retention that would allow us to assess these strategies. We should recognize that involuntary staying can be just as negative an outcome for the individual and the organization as leaving, setting the stage for legacy toxicity.”

In The Library With The Lead Pipe, Apr. 10
3d

Jackie Edwards writes: “As spring rolls around, seasonal allergies can flare up among library workers, resulting in symptoms like sneezing; runny or stuffy nose; itchy eyes, ears, and nose; coughing; and asthma. Not only are these symptoms detrimental to well-being and productivity, but they can also mean you’re less able to provide excellent customer service to library users. Fortunately, by purifying the air, preventing mold, and keeping your work area clean, you can improve indoor air quality and combat allergies in your library.”

Library Worklife, Apr.
3d

In Episode 94, Call Number celebrates Preservation Week, to be held this year April 28–May 4. The week’s events aim to raise awareness of the role libraries and cultural institutions play in protecting historic and culturally significant collections. Segments include Traci Sorell, honorary chair of this year’s Preservation Week, discussing the role of preservation through storytelling; Kathleen Monahan, special collections public services supervisor at Boston Public Library, addressing the importance of security in preservation; and Rosie Grayburn and Melissa Tedone, cofounders of the Poison Book Project, talking about their research on potentially toxic bookbinding materials from the 19th century.

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 15
3d

Leigh Kunkel writes: “The legalization of marijuana in many states and municipalities in recent years has created a newly legal industry and budding entrepreneurs who can benefit from the expertise of business librarians. As soon as Washington state introduced an initiative to legalize recreational cannabis use in 2012, Seattle Public Library librarian Jay Lyman started fielding questions from potential entrepreneurs. Since then, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis use, and 14 more have legalized medical use of cannabis. This cultural shift brings a new opportunity for libraries to step in with support services.”

American Libraries Trend, Mar./Apr.