Beginning with the 2012 American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, ALA will award new Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction to one adult title in each category. The summer event, which promises to be the adult-literature equivalent of the ALA Midwinter Meeting’s keenly anticipated Youth Media Awards, will also honor one additional author of fiction and one of nonfiction, each of which will be shortlisted as finalists.
The Andrew Carnegie Medals, which are funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation on the occasion of its centennial, will give $5,000 to each winning author and $1,500 apiece to each finalist. Cosponsored by Booklist and ALA’s Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), these medals mark the first time ALA is offering single-book awards for adult fiction and nonfiction. They will be launched with campaigns promoting them to the general public, publishers, the library community, and other reading-related constituencies.
Besides recognizing literary excellence, the medals are intended to “celebrate the important role librarians play in opening up the world of imagination, education, and aspiration to new readers and avid book lovers alike,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation and past president of the New York Public Library. Winning authors will be determined by an ALA-appointed committee of seven, comprised of three library practitioners and three Booklist editors or contributors. Nancy Pearl, renowned librarian and frequent NPR commentator on readers’ advisory, will serve as the inaugural chair.
A shortlist of finalists will be announced in May, undoubtedly creating a literary buzz that will culminate at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, June 21–26. In future years, speculation about who makes the shortlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals will undoubtedly begin months earlier, since the literary candidates under consideration will be public knowledge (unlike those for the Newbery and Caldecott Awards): The 50 adult trade titles under consideration will be drawn from the previous year’s Booklist Editors’ Choice list, published each January, as well as the Notable Books lists selected by RUSA’s Notable Books Council and announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.
“Librarians devote their lives to helping the public—people from all walks of life and backgrounds—to become lifelong learners,” said ALA President Molly Raphael. “The awards will celebrate the best of the best and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material, making a real contribution to our country being a nation of readers.”
“We are very pleased to collaborate on a new project with Carnegie Corporation that nourishes the public’s love of learning and reading,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels.
