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Covers for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

November 4, 2019

The 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Figuring, by Maria Popova (Pantheon). Popova brings her zest for facts and passion for biography to this inquiry into the lives of geniuses who “bridged the scientific and poetic,” spinning a fine web connecting such barrier-breakers as Rachel Carson, Frederick Douglass, … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Covers for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown); Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon (Scribner); The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, by Francisco Cantú (Riverhead); The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking); There There, by Tommy Orange (Knopf); and Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan (Knopf).

ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

October 24, 2018

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown and Company). Macy’s years of reporting on the still-unfolding US opioid crisis earned her remarkable access to people whose lives have been upended. Dopesick is a timely … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Looking Back at Books

By Phil Morehart | December 29, 2017

First, American Libraries Associate Editor Terra Dankowski talks with author Stephanie Powell Watts in a conversation taped right after her book No One Is Coming to Save Us was announced by Sarah Jessica Parker as the first selection in ALA’s Book Club Central. Next, American Libraries Associate Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Looking Back at Books →

The Sympathizer and Hold Still, Carnegie Medal winners

2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals

January 11, 2016

The selections were announced January 10 during the RUSA Book and Media Awards Ceremony and Reception that are part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Boston. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s bravura debut novel, The Sympathizer, illuminates the double-mindedness of a half-French, half-Vietnamese spy as he confronts impossible and dire situations in divided, war-torn Vietnam … Continue reading 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals →

Left to right: Donna Seaman, Terry Tempest Williams, Mark Kurlansky, Ken Burns

The Writer as Witness

By Phil Morehart | January 9, 2016

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker and writer Ken Burns’s response when asked how he chooses the subjects of his work encapsulates “The Writer as Witness,” the theme of the ERT / Booklist Author Forum at the 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston. A writer must look both outward and inward to completely, accurately, and honestly tell a … Continue reading The Writer as Witness →

Finalists for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

2016 Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced

October 19, 2015

2016 shortlisted titles include: Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Shortlist H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald, published by Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. Transfixed by books and birds of prey as a girl, Macdonald became a historian, writer, and professional falconer involved in avian research and conversation. After the sudden … Continue reading 2016 Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced →

Anthony Doerr (left) with his book. Bryan Stevenson

Doerr, Stevenson win 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals

By Laurie D. Borman | June 28, 2015

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time lead scorer, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and a New York Times–bestselling author, offered the keynote address. His first novel, Mycroft Holmes, about Sherlock Holmes’s older brother, will be published this fall by Titan Books. Abdul-Jabbar said his father was an avid reader who gave him books to find answers … Continue reading Doerr, Stevenson win 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals →

A Celebration of Reading

By Karen Muller | May 18, 2015

The Mother of All Booklists: The 500 Most Recommended Nonfiction Reads for Ages 3 to 103, by William Patrick Martin, is basically a crowdsourced book list. The author gathered 155 authoritative and influential lists of award-winning books and recommended reading lists from a spectrum of organizations, including parenting groups, state commissions on libraries, libraries, library … Continue reading A Celebration of Reading →

Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection

By Sarah Hunter | February 5, 2015

Need to refresh your Black History Month offerings? Here are some graphic novels, both fiction and nonfiction, that address Black History in dynamic, engaging ways. For Adults: Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White By Lila Quintero Weaver. Illus. by the author. 2012. Univ. of Alabama, paper, $24.95 (9780817357146). Perry County, Alabama, was a hotbed … Continue reading Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection →

Marisha Pessl’s Night Film Leaves a Lasting Impression

By Bill Ott | September 3, 2013

It’s the time of year when all of us connected to the publishing world begin speculating about the season’s big books. The major book shows—BookExpo America in May and ALA Annual Conference in June—have come and gone, leaving dozens of potential big books in their wakes. Now comes the predicting, the opinion swapping, and, one … Continue reading Marisha Pessl’s Night Film Leaves a Lasting Impression →

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Phil Morehart writes: “‘Ladies and gentlemen, there are speakers, and there’s Adolph Brown.’ The introduction of the Friday speaker at the AASL National Conference in Louisville was an understatement. A psychology professor at Hampton (Va.) University, Brown donned a sequined jacket and danced around the stage while music cues from James Brown’s 1970 single ‘Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine’ pumped through speakers in the ballroom. Another individual wearing baggy pants, an oversized shirt, a large backpack, and spiked braids soon joined Brown onstage, taking the role of the traditional hip-hop hype man. But it was all a ruse.”

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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Phil Morehart writes: “The AASL National School Library Standards were the focus of concurrent sessions at the AASL 2019 National Conference, held November 14–16 in Louisville, Kentucky. Each program demonstrated how Standards foundations—inquire, include, collaborate, curate, explore, engage—are being applied by school librarians. At ‘Do the Bot: Librarians Using Robots to Impact Learning,’ Archon Auzenne, Lee Glover, and Gloria Miller—librarians from Clear Creek Independent School District in League City, Texas—showed how different types of robots can be used to teach students programming and coding.”

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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The Brooklyn Public Library runs a wealth of programs, among them the Cookmobile, which offers free cooking classes for high schoolers, particularly in neighborhoods where fresh ingredients are in short supply. A compact 5-by-3-by-2-foot unit funded by the Bklyn Incubator, the Cookmobile is fitted with a sink, induction cooktop, convection oven, and enough cooking utensils for up to 30 students. It can be transported from place to place and wheeled right into the library, ready for a class. “We even have a Vitamix,” said Johanna Lewis, a librarian who teaches the classes with Adeeba Rana, also a librarian.

New York Times, Nov. 18
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Chandra Steele and Jason Cohen write: “Web notifications appear in the browser, dropping down from the URL bar to ask whether or not a website can use your location or send you notifications. Autoplay videos are usually sent from specific websites and interrupt your browsing experience. Push notifications are sent from specific services—like Slack, Twitter, or Facebook—and temporarily display over whatever window you have open. Luckily, major browser makers have tools to make certain alerts less invasive. Here’s what you need to know to keep these notifications and pop-ups in check.”

PC Magazine, Nov. 18
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A new analysis released November 18 reveals that more than $1 billion in federal funding for libraries will be allocated to states based on the 2020 Census. Published by Andrew Reamer of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, the study pinpoints the financial impact the census will have on libraries. The population count in the decennial census determines the level of funding allotted to each state through LSTA, which provides federal funding to state library agencies to support libraries. The program is one of more than 300 federal programs that allocates funding to local communities based on data derived from the census.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Nov. 19
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Emily Stochl writes: “There are so many books coming out each week, it can be difficult to keep track of the publication dates of all these amazing new reads. But there are sites and resources that organize upcoming book releases by date, and will make keeping track a lot easier on you. Some catalog upcoming book releases for 2019, others run through early 2020. Here are five different options for you to try.”

Book Riot, Nov. 19
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Kelly Hincks writes: “Recently, a 2nd-grade teacher and I had the opportunity to work together on a project in math. Her class was finishing a unit on graphing and I recommended the book The Great Graph Contest by Loreen Leedy. The book sparked discussion in her classroom and the students wanted to create their own graphs based on questions of their choice. Here are the five steps that were used to complete this project.”

Knowledge Quest blog, Nov. 19

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