Jan to April Book Awards 2019

Book Award Winners! Book Awards Winners! Many more will be announced this winter. Be in the know with our handy list below, divided by age groups (Adults, Teens, and Children) for your convenience.

Adult Awards

January

7th & 29th: Costa Book of https://nebulas.sfwa.org/the Year (UK & Ireland)

• 5 categories -- First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book - with one of the five winning books selected as the overall Costa Book of the Year.

27th: ALA Awards at Midwinter Meeting Event

• ALA/RUSA Listen List
• List of 12 audio books in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Plays. BONUS: It includes listen-alikes to lead listeners to additional audio experiences. To be eligible, titles must be available for purchase and circulation by libraries.
• ALA/RUSA Notable Books 
• List of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry books for the adult reader.
• ALA/RUSA Reading List
• 8 categories -- Adrenaline Titles (Suspense, Thrillers, and Action Adventure), Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, and Women’s Fiction. 

February

10th: GRAMMYs: Best Spoken Word Album

• 1 audio book is chosen.

Bonus: Around this time, the Nebula shortlist is announced!

• List of 30 titles in outstanding science fiction and fantasy in 6 categories -- Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

March

4th: Audies

• 26 categories: basically audiobooks and spoken word entertainment in every genre as well as narrators, excellence in marketing/design/production, and multi-voiced performance.

14th: National Book Critics Circle Awards (announced at conference)

• 6 categories -- Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry.

???: Canada Reads

• Five books, five champions, one winner: Canada Reads is a "literary Survivor," with celebrities championing books. Books are voted "off the bookshelf," one each day, until one book is chosen as the title the whole country should read this year. Every March, specific date not yet announced.

April

5th: Benjamin Franklin Awards

• 41 subject categories (all Adult except for 2 Children, 2 Young Readers and 2 Teens) and best first book for new publisher in Fiction, Nonfiction and Children/Young Adult. 

15th: Pulitzer Prize

• 21 categories across Journalism, Books, Drama and Music.

20th: L.A. Times Book Prize

• 10 categories -- First Fiction, Biography, Autobiographical Prose, Current Interest, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comics, History, Mystery/Thriller, Poetry, Science & Technology, and Young Adult Literature.

25th: Edgar Awards (Mystery)

•  14 categories -- Novel, First Novel, Paperback Original, Fact Crime, Critical/Biographical, Short Story , Juvenile, Young Adult, TV Episode, Robert L. Fish Memorial, Mary Higgins Clark, Grand Master, Raven Awards, and Ellery Queen Award.

Teen Awards

January

7th: Costa Book of the Year (UK & Ireland)

• 1 of the 5 categories is "Children's Book" which can be for ages 0-18.

28th: ALA Youth Media Awards (Midwinter)

• Alex Awards (Adult books for Teens)
• Coretta Scott King Awards (African American Authors and Illustrators) 
• Belpré Medal (Latino/Latina writers and illustrators about the Latino cultural experience)
• Schneider Family Book Award (Disability experience)
• Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Updated every 5 years. Current List: 2014)
• Printz Award (Literary Excellence)
• Odyssey Award (Audiobooks for Teens)
• Rainbow List (GBLT)
• Stonewall Book Award (GBLT)
• Morris Award (First time author writing for Teens)
• Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
• Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Great Graphic Novels for Teens
• Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
• American Indian Library Association (Every two years; 2018 Current List)

29th: Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
29th: Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
29th: Scott O'Dell Award (Historical Fiction)

???: Walter Dean Myers Award (Presented by We Need Diverse Books)

• Outstanding titles for teens and young readers who celebrate diversity. Always announced in January. No specific date currently given.

February

14th: Cybils Awards

• 12 categories including Middle-Grade Fiction, Junior/Senior High Non-Fiction, Young Adult Graphic Novels, Young Adult Fiction, and Young Adult Speculative Fiction.

April

5th: Benjamin Franklin Awards

• 41 subject categories (all Adult except for 2 Children, 2 Young Readers and 2 Teens) and best first book for new publisher in Fiction, Nonfiction and Children/Young Adult. 

15th: Pulitzer Prize

• 21 categories across Journalism, Books, Drama and Music.

20th: L.A. Times Book Prize

• 10 categories including one in Young Adult Literature.

25th: Edgar Awards (Mystery)

•  14 categories, one of which is Young Adult.

Children Awards

January

7th: Costa Book of the Year (UK & Ireland)

• 1 of the 5 categories is "Children's Book" which can be for ages 0-18.

28th: ALA Youth Media Awards (Midwinter)

• Newbery Medal
• Caldecott Medal (Picture Book illustrations)
• Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
• Batchelder Award (Translated work)
• Belpré Medal (Latino cultural experience by Latino/a writer and illustrator)
• Carnegie Medal (Video)
• Geisel Medal (author(s) and illustrator(s) of beginning readers)
• Odyssey Award (audio books)
• Sibert Informational Book Medal (author(s) and illustrator(s))
• Children's Literature Legacy Award (Author or illustrator, formerly Wilder's Award)
• Schneider Family Book Award (Disability experience)
• American Indian Library Association (Every two years; 2018 will be announced)
• ALA Rainbow List (GBLT)

29th: Scott O'Dell Award (Historical Fiction)
???: Charlotte Zolotow Award (Picture Books)
???: Walter Dean Myers Award (Diversity Titles presented by We Need Diverse Books)

February

14th: Cybils Awards

• 12 categories including Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books, Elementary/Middle Grade Non-Fiction, Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction, Fiction Picture Books and Board Books.

April

5th: Benjamin Franklin Awards

• 41 subject categories (all adult except for 2 children, 2 young readers and 2 teens) and best first book for new publisher in fiction, nonfiction and Children/Young Adult. 

20th: L.A. Times Book Prize

• 10 categories including one in Young Adult Literature.

25th: Edgar Awards (Mystery)

•  14 categories, one of which is Juvenile.

???: Jane Addams Peace Awards

• The Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually recognizes children's books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.

Want More?

You can find the complete list of awards in our previous post, the Ultimate Book Awards Calendar. The specific dates aren't listed because they change every year, but stay tuned for our next installment (May-August) in April!

14 Ways Libraries Can Help Immigrant Children and Families

The news around immigration to the US is heart breaking right now. If you find yourself wanting to do something, but are not sure what, here are a few suggestions curated mostly from a post in Library Think Tank.

Collection Displays

• Create a display related to Migration and Refugees to help inform patrons of why people are coming here.
• Display Central American Literature.
• Display books connected to epigenetics, showing how trauma can be passed down through subsequent generations.
• Always display books that include POC kids. When book talking, always talk them up and get them into kids' hands to grow empathy.

Information Displays

• Provide sanctuary locations and qualifications.
• Display information on immigration and legal rights/citizenship/etc. Include this information in multiple languages! Print out Know Your Rights cards in multiple languages.
• Highlight (or start) your collection on ESL Learning Materials, citizenship exam study books, and information on becoming citizens.
• Curate useful websites for your patrons: Informed Immigrant, Immi, and more. Check out Libraries Serve Refugees for great and local resources! 

Programming

• ‘I’m a Migrant, Ask Me Anything’ Program
• Invite authors to speak, like Reyna Grande (The Distance Between Us) and Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil's Highway: A True Story). Offer programs in both English and Spanish!
• Invite an immigration lawyer or a local nonprofit immigration service to give a talk.
• Movie screenings about immigrants like El Norte
• Host a program where your patrons can become pen pals with an immigrant. 
• Currently, there's The Comfort Campaign going on right now which is open to anyone (ends July 4th). They're asking for letters of welcome and comfort, artwork and/or a teddy bear to be sent to a nonprofit which will send it out around the US to their 27 different locations. Might make a great and easy program.

____________________

On a Personal Level, If You Want to Help Out, You Can:

Connect

• Go to Informed Immigrant and find service organizations near you. Some like First Friends of NJ and NY will give you the opportunity to visit immigrants in detention (trainings are provided) or become a pen pal.
• Participate in the Stamp Out Despair Campaign by sending them mail materials needed to stay in touch with family.

Donate:

• Kid Lit Says No Kids in Cages 
  Teen and Children authors are collecting donations for mulitple organizations. More info here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/77293-kid-lit-campaign-rallies-against-immigration-horrors.html
• Facebook Fundraiser for RAICES: Reunite an immigrant parent with their child
  https://www.facebook.com/donate/490507544717085/
• Annunciation House: https://annunciationhouse.org/
• Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee: https://dmscelpaso.wixsite.com/dmscelpaso
• Las Américas Immigrant Advocacy Center http://las-americas.org/
• Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Center http://www.dmrs-ep.org/
• ALDEA: The People’s Justice Center https://aldeapjc.org/
• Santa Fe Dreamers Project http://www.santafedreamersproject.org/

Inform Yourself

• Read Shadow of the Wall: Violence and Migration on the U.S.-Mexico Border
• Challenge yourself to read immigration stories. The more you read, the more you can recommend. 

Make Phone Calls

• DOJ Comment Line: (202)353-1555
• Chief of Staff, John Kelly - 202-456-1414
• Attorney General, Jeff Sessions - 202-353-1555
• DHS Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen - 202-282-8495
• Acting ICE Director, Thomas Homan - 1-866-DHS-2-ICE
• HHS Secretary, Alex Azar - 202-690-7000
• Acting Assistant ACF Secretary, Steven Wagner - 1-877-696-6775​
• ORR Director, Scott Lloyd -202.401.9246

Do you have any additional suggestions? Please let us know in the comments!

6 Ways To "Read" More Books For RA

What to do when your library doesn't pay you to read? Or, perhaps they do allow you to read on the clock, but you can't get through all of the books you are interested in? Reader's Advisory is part of your job, but keeping up with it all can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, we have a few tricks to help you out:

1. Spoilers Sweetie

Spoilers, Sweetie is a website you can visit for spoilers for award winners. It isn't the end all, but knowing what the story is about (and any potential red flags) is a good starting point! Then pick up the book and get a good feel for the story.

2. Speedread

Learn the art of speedreading. Basically, take a book off the shelf, read the first chapter, middle chapter and last chapter. That'll give you a good basic idea about the book. For more details, check out Georgine Olson's handy tips on this: chrome-extension://gbkeegbaiigmenfmjfclcdgdpimamgkj/views/app.html. I've also heard the recommendation reading the first 50 pages (or first chapter) of every new book.  

3. Document, Document, Document

If you don't have a great memory for books, then you may find it handy to keep a spreadsheet or perhaps something like a Goodreads account of all the books you read and important details about them. You can also use this technique just pulling information from book reviews. Just knowing genre, age group, red flags, and a book talk can be REALLY helpful. Bonus points if you can think of readalikes to include in your list.

4. Ask For Recommendations

What are your patrons' favorite reads? Ask them when they visit and check those out. Chances are, they'll find books you haven't heard of that are great. Don't forget to talk to your fellow librarians, too. Or check out this awesome website, BookQuest.

5. Create Book Lists

Take the time out to make (or look up) book lists. What are the readalikes for your popular titles? (If you don't know what circulated well, run a report to find out!) Can you list five titles for every genre? We previously wrote an article about RA resources that'll help you build these lists: http://www.5minlib.com/2017/07/7-useful-ra-websites.html) 

6. Follow the Top Goodreads Reviewers

Goodreads shares a list of the top reviewers in the world and in your country. Check them out and see if they cover your age group. They are the best for a reason -- their reviews are very detailed and on target. Very helpful for when you don't have the time to read a book or want to learn about something not in mainstream.

Do you have any additional tips to share? We'd love to hear about them.

7 Useful RA Websites

With summer reading in full swing, chances are you're going to get a lot of requests for book recommendations. What to do when your patrons have already read your usual suggestions? Thankfully, there are many great RA websites out there to help you find new titles. Sure, you can direct patrons to these websites, but why give our best secrets away? ;-)

(Actually, not all of the recommendations were dead on perfect, so it does help to have a librarian preview the list first. These websites and your RA knowledge makes the perfect combination!)

Goodreads 

Many librarians have an account on Goodreads to keep track of their own reading. However, it can be very useful when you are trying to get more reviews on a book. I have found some really great reads (and recommendations) just by following the top reviewers (who do a SPLENDID job of describing the book and it's strengths/weaknesses). Kat also wrote a great article with lots of librarian tips to get the most out of Goodreads. (LibraryThing is also very similar to Goodreads and can be used the same way.)

BookBrowse

BookBrowse focuses on books published within the last 15 years. If you are looking for a popular readalike, you will find many ideas here. They also have a section on book club recommendations (and discussion guides!) and feature new books they really liked.

Whichbook

Whichbook is a fun website to find new recommendations. They have a slider on the left with a variety of factors that you can adjust to customize your results. They also provide book lists.

Fantastic Fiction

One of our favorite websites is Fantastic Fiction. They have a list of coming soon, new books, and new authors. This is also our go-to resource when we're trying to figure out the order of books in a series (it is clearly stated and they include ebook novellas!). They also post publication dates and when books are republished as a paperback.

Literature Map

Literature Map is a fascinating resource. Instead of listing out similar authors, they give you an interactive word cloud. The closer the names are to your author, the more similar they are. You will need to look up their books elsewhere, though, since this is only a map of names.

What Should I Read Next?

What Should I Read Next? allows you to add in an author or book and they'll bring back specific titles. What's really neat about them is that they provide the subject headings below each title so you know exactly why that book was recommended.

NoveList

NoveList is the ultimate reader's advisory database. It isn't free, however many libraries and consortiums subscribe to it. Check to see if yours do (that includes the library you work in, the library you live next to, and perhaps your state library, if they give all residents a card). Kat did a three part write-up about how awesome NoveList is for librarians. Check the first one out here!

Bonus Pro Tip:

Many library catalogs are connected to Goodreads, LibraryThing or NoveList to provide additional information and recommendations. If your catalog does not, check your surrounding library networks to see if they offer this service. When doing RA, use their catalog instead to utilize these useful tools! (For example, C/W MARS is connected to NoveList, so below each title is the list of books in the series and recommendations based on titles, authors, and other series. You can't click on the title for more info without an account to NoveList, but you'll get a good start. They also include what awards the book has won and full text reviews.)

Spoilers for the 2016 Youth Media Award Winners

This past Monday, the American Library Association announced the winners of the 2017 Youth Media Awards. All one hundred of them! No, actually not that many, but close when you add in all of the lists, too. It is an exciting time to see who won, but it may also be overwhelming to the slow or busy or selective reader.

Thankfully, our sister blog, Spoilers, Sweetie, is working hard to help in this endeavor. (After all, there's still reader advisory to do!) Since the winners were just announced, it'll take them a while to compile spoilers for the 2017 winners. But if you didn't have a chance to read last year's winners (and in some cases, winners from 2015), here's your chance now. We divided them up into three categories, depending on where you are most interested in:

Outstanding! Distinguished! Excellent!

Newbery Medal, 2016 and BONUS: 2015
Caldecott Medal, 2016 (American Picture Book)
Printz Award 2016 and BONUS: 2015
Odyssey Award, 2016 (audiobook) and BONUS: 2015
Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, 2016 (Beginning Reader)
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for YA, 2016
Scott O'Dell Award, 2016 (Historical Fiction)
Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Reads, 2016
Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2016

New Talent

John Steptoe, 2016 and BONUS: 2015
Morris Award, 2016

Diversity

Coretta Scott King Author Awards, 2016 and BONUS: 2015 (African-American author and illustrator)
Schneider Family Book Award 2016 (disability experience)
Stonewall Book Award, 2016 (GLBT)

To be notified of spoilers for 2017 (and they're finishing up 2016), make sure you follow the Spoilers, Sweetie blog! Each award is posted only after all of the winning books are read and spoiled by a fabulous volunteer team. If you plan to read a 2017 winner and would like to submit a spoiler, please register here.

Happy reading/spoiling!

SLJ's FREE Virtual Teen Conference - Aug 10th

If you are a Teen/Youth Librarian or are interested in Teen Literature, School Library Journal's virtual conference (coming up August 10th) is perfect for you!

It is one of my favorite conferences to attend each year. You can't beat the price (free!) or the location (online). The way they designed it, you really feel like you're in a different location. They recreated a conference hall, where you can move to the different rooms or move from vendor to vendor.

You don't have to stay all day, so you can easily jump in to view the panels you want to see and then log out. If you aren't available that day (it is in the middle of most summer reading programs), still register! You can access recordings of each discussion later. If you can squeeze in some time to visit the vendors' hall, definitely do it. Some of them will give you free ebooks (yay!), you can chat with authors and publishers, and download other goodies.

Authors

This year's keynote speakers are Maggie Stiefvater (author of The Raven Cycle) and Meg Medina (author of Burn Baby Burn). And there are many other authors participating on panels throughout the day:

Nyrae Dawn, author, Turn the World Upside Down (Harmony Ink)

Stephanie Kuehn, author, The Smaller Evil (Penguin)

Jennifer Niven, author, Holding Up the Universe (Penguin)

Teresea Toten, author, Beware that Girl (Penguin)

Susan Vaught, author, Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy (Simon & Schuster)

Sarah Rees Brennan, author, Tell the Wind and Fire (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Traci Chee, author, The Reader (Penguin)

Kate Elliott, author, Poisoned Blade (Little, Brown)

Rachel Lou, author, The Bridge (Harmony Ink)

Amanda Sun, author, Heir to the Sky (Harlequin Teen)

Neal Bascomb, author, Sabotage (Scholastic)

Bridget Heos, author, Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA (Harper Collins)

Robert Hoge, author, Ugly (Penguin)

Reyna Grande, author, The Distance Between Us (Simon & Schuster)

Leonard S. Marcus, author, Comics Confidential (Candlewick Press)

Sarah Miller, author, The Borden Murders (Penguin Random House)

Eileen Cook, author, With Malice (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Ryan Graudin, author, Blood for Blood (Little, Brown)

Leo Hunt, Eight Rivers of Shadow (Candlewick)

Lorie Langdon, author, Gilt Hollow (Blink)

Mindy McGinnis, author, Female of the Species (HarperCollins)

The author panels will focus on mental health in YA literature, genre-bending SFF, compelling nonfiction, and suspense & horror. Each panel has a Q&A at the end, so you can ask the authors your burning questions.

Teen Service Panels

In the afternoon, there will be teen service panels, where librarians will discuss topics like serving the underserved (teen parents, incarcerated teens, and homeless teens), college and career readiness, working with Instagram and Snapchat, and innovative programming.

Full Schedule

For the full schedule of programs and times, check out their website: http://www.slj.com/teen-live-2016/program.

Show a Panel to Your Teens!

Think your teens may want to watch some of the panels? SLJ gives you permission to show the panels to your teens.

Register for this year's conference

This is an annual conference, so look for it every August! We highly recommend registering and checking it out. This year's conference is next Wednesday (August 10th), so don't delay! If you are unable to attend, register so you can access the archives online. You can't visit the vendors, but you can watch all of the panels.

Spotlight on Diversity: Are Your Library Shelves White-Washed?

As librarians, we strive to build a balanced collection that circulates, from a good mix of different genres to coverage of the big topics. This may lead to problems, though, if you are not paying a close enough attention to diversity. The Cooperative Children's Book Center just published results to their survey about diversity in the publishing world. The results are eye opening.

 Let's look at this a little closer and why this affects librarians:

1. Where are you buying your books?

According to the survey, the publishing world is primarily consisted of straight White Caucasians. That means the editors who are selecting the books, the advertisers who are selling them, the writers who are writing them-- every step of the process is dominated by this one segment of our population. And as such, there is little wonder why we don't have diversity in our literature. Up until recently, this was just accepted. Main characters are just white. If they were people of color, their images on covers were white-washed so the books would "sell". People are trying to make changes and bring this issue to the forefront, but it is very evident that it needs to happen on all levels. Public libraries - any library - is not immune to this, either.

Unfortunately, nothing ever happens fast. In fact, over the past 20 years, despite diversity growing in our population here in the US, diverse books have remained at 10% of all books published each year. It looks even worse when you divide up that 10% to show the individual categories that fall into diversity: LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities (as defined by http://weneeddiversebooks.org). That's beyond pitiful.

WHERE IS THE DIVERSITY IN PUBLISHING? THE 2015 DIVERSITY BASELINE SURVEY RESULTS

2. Where are you getting your reviews?

Do your reviewers read diverse books? Focusing on only the big journals may not be your best source of information to find lots of new diverse books. 

Some great places to check out:

http://weneeddiversebooks.org/where-to-find-diverse-books/
http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/

http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/
http://bookriot.com/ (Most especially The Podcast)
http://blog.leeandlow.com/2014/03/21/where-can-i-find-great-diverse-childrens-books/

3. What books are you buying?

Are you only ordering diverse books that get starred reviews? Publishers will never publish more diverse books if we're not buying them. Of course, we don't want to fill our shelves with mediocre books; however, if we are willing to buy mediocre stories from white authors, we should be willing to buy mediocre stories from diverse authors, too. It isn't fair to only hold diverse authors to a higher standard.

4. What books do you promote?

What books do you have on your displays? Do you have book lists that make it easy for people to find diverse characters? Do you make sure diverse books are included in all of your lists?

Some Suggestions:

Stay tuned for Allie's Diverse Book Lists!

ALA awards (Many focus on diverse reads!)
Serving Diverse Teens @ Your Library
The Hub
End of the Year Booklists by We Need Diverse Books
1000 Black Girl Books Resource Guide by GrassROOTS Community Foundation

5. What books are you deleting?

Since it is a lot of work to find diverse books to order, can you imagine being a patron trying to find them to read? If we're not promoting them, people may not even know about them. When you are weeding your shelves, pay attention to how many diverse books you're taking out. Are you deleting more than you are buying?

6. What books are you reading?

We all understand the importance of diversity in literature. I don't have to list out to you why we need these books on our library shelves. However, I am embarrassed to admit that when I actually looked at my own reading history, nearly all of the books I have read were white-washed and written by white authors. I wasn't making an active effort to read these great diverse books, so I had fallen victim to the unconscious bias. I hate to say "victim" because I'm not the type to be a victim of any type if I can help it, but the problem was - is - that so many of us don't even realize it's happening. I thought I was doing well - I was reading award winners and top reviewed books - but my sources weren't strong in diversity and I was influenced by the book buzz. Now that I fully understand how deep our white-washed literature goes, I'm realizing that I need to be part of the change. I need to read more diversity, turning it from a buzz word to just a part of my every day reading life. We all need to, if we want to make any strides to a more inclusive literature.

So, how would you answer these questions if someone were to ask:
1. How many books have you read which featured a diverse character?
2. How many many books have a person of color as the main character?
3. How many books were written by non-Caucasians?

If your answers were not many, it might be time to #colormyshelf.

The Ultimate Book Awards Calendar

In preparation for Spoilers, Sweetie, I hunted for a list of book awards, arranged by the month they are announced. I had no luck, so decided to create one and share it with you all. Enjoy! They are divided by age groups (Adults, Teens, and Children), so you can easily find your target audience.

Adult Awards

January

ALA Awards (Midwinter)

• ALA/RUSA Listen List
• ALA/RUSA Notable Books
• ALA/RUSA Reading List (Genre Fiction)

National Book Critic’s Circle Finalists
Costa Book of the Year (UK & Ireland)
BCALA (Black Caucus)
Carnegie Medal (ALA)

February

GRAMMYs: Best Spoken Word Album
Nebula shortlist

March

National Book Critics Circle Awards
Canada Reads
Bram Stoker Awards (Horror)

April

L.A. Times Book Prize
Pulitzer Prize
Benjamin Franklin Awards
Edgar Awards (Mystery)

April/May (may come out either month)

IACP Cookbook Awards
Pen/Faulkner
Agatha Awards (Traditional Mystery)
James Beard Cookbook Awards

May

Audies (Audiobooks and spoken word entertainment)
Christian Book Awards
Nebula Award (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Man Booker International Prize (Translated Fiction)

June

Women's Prize for Fiction, Bailey's (formerly The Orange Prize)
Lambda (LGBT)
Locus Awards (Sci-Fi)

July

Eisners (comics, announced at ComicCon)
International Thriller Writers Award
RITA / Golden Heart Awards (Romance)
Shirley Jackson (Psychological Suspense, Horror, and the Dark Fantastic)
Man Booker Prize Longlist (Longlist, July; Shortlist, Sept)
Mythopoeic Award (Fantasy)

August

Hugo Award (Sci Fi/Fantasy)

Sept

Man Booker Prize Shortlist (Longlist, July; Shortlist, Sept)
National Book Awards (Longlist)
Christy Finalists (Christian Fiction)

October

Giller (Shortlist)
Anthony Award (Crime Fiction/Mystery)
Nobel Prize in Literature
Kirkus Prize
Man Booker Prize
National Book Awards (Shortlist)

November

World Fantasy
Giller (Winner)
National Book Awards
Costa Book Shortlist (UK & Ireland)
Christy (Christian Fiction)

December

PEN Literary Awards Longlist
Goodreads Choice (by readers)

Teen Awards

January

ALA Youth Media Awards (Midwinter)

• Alex Awards (Adult books for teens)
• Coretta Scott King Awards
• Belpré Medal* (Latino/Latina writer and illustrator about Latino cultural experience)
• Schneider Family Book Award* (Disability experience)
• Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Updated every 5 years. 2014 Current List)
• Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production*
• Printz Award
• Odyssey Award (Audiobook)
• Rainbow List (GBLT)
• Stonewall Book Award (GBLT)
• Morris Award
• Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
Best Fiction for Young Adults
Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Scott O'Dell Award (Historical Fiction)
Costa Children's Book Award (UK & Ireland)

February

Cybils Awards
American Indian Library Association (Every two years; 2016 Current List)

March

Walter Dean Myers Award (Presented by We Need Diverse Books)
Bram Stoker Awards (Horror)

April

IACP Cookbook Awards
L.A. Times Book Prize
Benjamin Franklin Awards

May

Edgar Awards (Mystery)
Children's Choice Book Awards - (voted by Children and YA)
Andre Norton Award (a Hugo Award; Sci Fi/Fantasy)
Boston Globe Horn Book Award
Audies (Audiobooks and spoken word entertainment)
Christian Book Awards

June

Lambda (LGBT)
Locus Awards (Sci-Fi)

July

Eisners (comics, announced at ComicCon)

International Thriller Writers Award 

RITA / Golden Heart Awards (Romance)
Mythopoeic Award Finalist (fantasy)

September

National Book Awards: Young People's Literature Longlists

October

Teens' Top Ten
Kirkus Prize: Young Readers

National Book Awards Finalists

November

National Book Awards Winners

Christy (Christian Fiction)
Costa Book Shortlist (UK & Ireland)

December

Goodreads Choice (by readers)

Children Awards

January

ALA Youth Media Awards (Midwinter)

• Newbery Medal
• Caldecott Medal (Picture Book illustrations)
• Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
• Batchelder Award (Translated work)
• Belpré Medal (Latino cultural experience by Latino/a writer and illustrator)
• Carnegie Medal (video)
• Geisel Medal (author(s) and illustrator(s) of beginning readers)
• Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production
• Sibert Informational Book Medal (author(s) and illustrator(s))
• Wilder Award (Author or illustrator)
• Schneider Family Book Award (Disability experience)

Phoenix Award (Chapter book/Picture Book)

Charlotte Zolotow Award (Picture Book)

ALA Rainbow List (GBLT)
Scott O'Dell Award (Historical Fiction)
Costa Children's Book Award (UK & Ireland)

February

Cybils Awards
American Indian Library Association (Every two years; 2016 Current List)

March

Walter Dean Myers Award (Presented by We Need Diverse Books)

April

IACP Cookbook Awards
Benjamin Franklin Awards
Jane Addams Peace Awards
Edgar Award

May

Children's Choice Book Awards
Boston Globe Horn Book Award
Audies (Audiobooks and spoken word entertainment)
Christian Book Awards

June

Lambda (LGBT)

July

Eisners (comics, announced at ComicCon)

October

Kirkus Prize: Young Readers

November

Costa Book Shortlist (UK & Ireland)

December

Goodreads Choice (by readers)

Special thanks to Krystal Smith for help with compiling this list!

Spoilers, Sweetie

I am excited to announce a new segment to the 5 Minute Librarian titled: Spoilers, Sweetie!. This segment will be very different from our other ones because we're starting it with a call for help:

We're looking for readers who can help us write spoilers! Here's your chance to join the 5minlib team and help librarians everywhere! If you like to read and your soul doesn't die when you share a spoiler, this is for you!

Scandalous, I know. But let's look at the facts:

#1. More Books are Published Than You Can Read in a Year

Even if you read a book a day, you won't be able to read every single new book that is published. (Just in YA Lit alone, Goodreads lists over 1,400 YA books were published this year.) That doesn't even cover all of the books that are currently in your collection that you haven't even read yet. If you are a new librarian who isn't familiar with previous publications, good luck to you! 

#2. Librarians Aren't Paid to Read

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all we did was sit, read, and then recommend? We all love reading -- you can't get into this profession without it -- and we're expected to know our collection, but reading must be done on our own time. I get it -- it is hard to justify paying someone to read when librarians are needed for circulation, ordering, programming, teaching classes, patron help, etc. But this is our FREE time we're talking about and many of us are also balancing second jobs, families, and so many other commitments. How many books can we realistically read? It is never enough.

#3. Librarians Don't Love Every Genre or Book They Read 

Not only do you need to read on your own time, but it's also in genres and titles that you don't even enjoy. Wouldn't it be nice to read a bunch of spoilers and then pull the book off the shelf to read a few chapters for the reader's advisory info? It doesn't take long to figure out the pacing and style of writing. Five minutes and you have a new book under your belt that you can booktalk for the appropriate audience.

#4. Why Spoilers?

Let's be honest. Librarians have NEVER read every book that is published. It isn't possible! So, many people have found other ways to build their RA toolbox. I've heard of reading lots of reviews to skimming books to bouncing around on audio books. We're putting in so much time and effort to become acquainted with as many books as possible. 

But it isn't a perfect system. For starters, if you are anything like me, as you're trying to skim, you become hooked in the book and end up reading it anyway. If I knew the spoilers ahead of time, I wouldn't have that problem. Other people struggle with this because they worry about content warnings -- how much sex, violence, and death are in this? The only way to know for sure is to finish the darn book.

#5. Are You Worried You'll Kill the Love For Reading?

All of our posts will list the titles at the top of the page and we'll link them to their spoilers and back up to the top. We don't want to spoil anything you really want to read. In fact, we are hoping that this series will free up your evenings so that you CAN actually read what you want to. Because we love reading. We already have To-Be-Read book lists that we'll never finish. But we all also have genres we're not interested in and popular books that we just cannot make ourselves read. Let us at 5minlib do that dirty work for you!

#6. What Can I Do?

If you enjoy reading and willing to write up spoilers, please fill out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/vnyNHujIfO. We are going to begin this series by spoiling the award-winning books. You'll get to pick what book(s) you want to read and must be able to submit spoilers within a reasonable deadline (one month). It is simple, and the more people who participate, the quicker we can share these spoilers with everyone and possibly branch out to other niche-genres. You will be credited for your work!

#7 And What is With this Title? 

For those of you who don't know, I'm about to up your geek cred a little bit:

On Doctor Who, the amazing BBC sci-fi series, the Doctor has a (super awesome) love interest named Professor River Song. Since they are both time travelers, they don't tend to meet in the right order - one may have already had an experience that the other has not yet had. In order to keep things exciting, River Song discourages speaking about these things, with the warning: "Spoilers, Sweetie." We love that phrase and decided to name our series after it.

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Three

By now, we hope you have gotten a chance to read Part One and Part Two of our NoveList series. We weren't even planning on writing a third installment, but our friends at NoveList (specifically, the lovely and talented Danielle Borasky) saw the first two installments of our NoveList love-fest, and were kind enough to give us an introduction to some amazing new features. These went live only two days ago, giving us a jump on all the cool new information, and we just have to share. (Unfortunately, that means that the screen-shots from the previous NoveList articles are out of date. Hopefully, this will be fixed soon.)

User Interface

One of the criticisms that NoveList has gotten is that it's a professional database. That is, librarians use it, but we don't introduce it to our patrons because there's a lot to it, and it can be intimidating for the casual user. EBSCO has heard this, and has made their interface a lot more layman-friendly. One of the ways they've done this is by making it a lot easier to browse for books. Yes, you can still look for specific books by title or description, and do all the things you could do before, but you can also...

Browse by Appeal

I love this. Do you want something that's funny? Lyrical? Haunting? Just by asking what you're in the mood for, NoveList has changed the game entirely. Just this simple line: "I'm in the mood for..." has turned this database from something strictly for information professionals, to a user-friendly wealth of information. Go ahead; you've been invited to click around and decide what kind of entertainment can be tailored specifically to suit how you're feeling.

You can choose from some of the database's pre-mixed appeal terms, or you can mix and match your own with their appeal mixer.  Please note that you can also specify the age range of the books you're searching for; this is great for older kids or their parents.

Please note that, yes, recommended appeal terms change when you change the age. While it is technically possible for there to be sweeping and dramatic books for kids, it's more likely that they will be in the mood for "silly and whimsical."

The Appeal Mixer

If you're not in the mood for any of the pre-mixed appeal terms, fear not! You can make your own combination. The Appeal Mixer looks like this:

You can choose from several categories: character, illustration, pace, story line, tone, and writing style. Each category has its own appeal terms; the numbers in parentheses indicate how many items are listed as having that trait.

When you choose two or more appeal terms, the database will search and find books that have both traits, which you can browse through or view as a page.

Very occasionally, you might run across a combination that doesn't find any results, and you will get a note that nothing was found. While Danielle did show me this when showing me around all the new features, I should note that it actually took me several tries to get the note up on my own.  There are just that many books in this database! 

If you do encounter this, the easiest thing to do is probably to choose a similar appeal term that has more titles attached to it, and try again.

Browse by Genre

Yes, you could browse by genre before, but now it's even easier! On the main NoveList page, you can click on the age of the reader (adult, teen, kids 9-12, kids 0-8), and be sent to a page specific to that group.

Here, we clicked on "Adult," and it brought us to what's new and popular in various genres. When you click to"explore" a genre it will bring you to a whole new page about that genre, with sub-categories. 

 

For example, Forthcoming Fantasy and Contemporary  Fantasy. Each sub-genre will have a quick description of the books you can find.  I really like how visual this is; I know they say you can't judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you see a cover and just know you want to read the book!

On the right side of the genre page, you'll also find a handy list of genre-friendly links, including lists of recommended titles, a link to the "Keeping Up" section of the database, and articles to help with readers' advisory.

Read-Alikes

As before, NoveList has lists of read-alikes for your enjoyment. The main difference is that it's now much more visual. Instead of one book cover and a list of names, now you get several book covers. It's much more visually appealing.

 Featured Award Winners

 Back on the landing page again, there is a link toward the bottom of the page that highlights a recent award-winning book. The award will be explained, and link to the winning book.  If you click on "Browse Awards..."

...you get to another page, which highlights recent award winning titles, and lists popular awards in different categories.  Again, clicking the link to a specific award will give you information about that award, and a list of every single book that has won it, by year.  Fabulous.

On the left side of the page, you'll also see a list of genres; from there, you can find out all the different awards that are given for any genre in which you are interested. Each of these headings includes many different awards, and information about them. 

In Conclusion

I really hope you've enjoyed our tour through the NoveList kingdom.  If there are any questions you have, I can do my best to answer, or you can, of course, use the FAQ available on the NoveList database, or watch any of their how-to videos.  As you can probably tell, this is my favorite database. Do you have one?

Want to Read More About NoveList? Check out:

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part One
Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Two

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Two

NoveList, You Have So Much to Offer! 

Two weeks ago, we began our NoveList journey by looking at the menu bar on the top of the page, but we've only scratched the surface of what this amazing database has to offer. There is so much more to see!

Tutorials and Online Help

Before we dive in, I want to mention that NoveList itself has extremely helpful How-To videos and articles, and you can even sign up for NoveList training. The menu (screenshot below) is located at the very bottom of the screen. The videos are a wonderful way to get to know the database. This post is just a quick overview of the database, but I highly recommend checking out these videos for intensive assistance. Also, in the interest of clarity, I have added a multitude of screen-shots to this blog post. I know they are small, but when you double click them, they become much larger.

Keeping Up...

This is such a great feature, because even the best librarian in the world can't keep up with everything. Click on this to read articles about what's new in various genres. Each category (YA, Dystopian, Romance, Fantasy, etc.) will give a brief summary of the topic, suggestions of book lists for fans of the genre, and recent titles for adults and teens. Scroll to the bottom of the page to get help with RA (particularly helpful if you're just not personally a fan of the genre) with articles written about the subject.

There's also a section called "Grab This," which has reading maps and posters that you can print out to hang up in your library. Why do the work when the work has already been done for you? Bonus: they look fantastic.

I grabbed this from the "Grab This" section.

Plot Searches

At the top of the main page, there is a keyword search bar, which will bring you to any book you choose. If you can't remember the title of your book, typing in a few keywords about the plot will search the database for books that match your description. Typing in "Japan 1930s women" brings up several titles, each with a quick plot summary and book cover for easy identification. As a bonus, take a look at the left side of the results page that I've screen-shotted here.

You can refine the results by audience publication date, genre, and other criteria. I've used this many times for those kinds of reference questions where, "I know I read this when I was a kid in the 1960's..." Simply change the publication date and the audience, and you're golden.

Book Summaries and Metadata

 Once you find the book you're looking for, you'll be directed to a page for that specific book. This will include reviews from major reviewing publications (Kirkus, BookList, Publisher's Weekly, etc.); information about the author and links to their websites or interviews; a list of awards won; a list of NoveList articles that mention the book; a list of subject headings that could be used to describe it (all of which are click-able!); a perma-link so that you can always get back to the same page; and icons that let you print, email, save, or add this book to a folder. (Note: if you create a log in and password, you can save your folders - and whichever books, lists, etc. you would like - between uses.)

How is this different from GoodReads? The image on the left is from NoveList, and on the right is from GoodReads; double-click the image to see it larger.

As you can see, they both have the author, description, publication, and all the usual metadata. However, NoveList also includes reviews from many major publications, awards won, Lexile scores, etc. This is not to put down GoodReads! I use it all the time, and I love it, and you can even see that the reviews on NoveList are actually from GoodReads. It's just that NoveList has a lot more to it, which is useful for librarians and other professionals who work with literature and not particularly needed for those who are looking for pleasure reading. (Myself included: I use NoveList for work, and GoodReads for fun. You don't have to choose one and hate the other. I promise, your loyalty will not be tarnished.)

Read-Alikes

On the NoveList main page, they have a list of books that are currently popular, and read-alikes for that particular title. Personally, I find this helpful not only for RA, but also to know what people are looking up recently, since I am not able to be active in all corners of the library at once.

On the right side of a book's NoveList page, there are links for "Title Read-Alikes."  Clicking these links opens up a printable list of books that may appeal to fans of the original title. Each book is listed with author and a couple sentences about why readers may enjoy it. Each of these suggestions is reader-submitted; if you like, you can click the thumbs-up or thumbs-down buttons, which lets you offer feedback on whether you agree with the recommendation or not. If you are looking at the author's page, you will see a list of author read-alikes, instead.

Recommended Reads Lists

Back on the main page again, you can find lists by genre (and sub-genre!), for all ages. Let's say that I have a patron who wants "a nice cozy mystery." Clicking on "Mysteries" will open a new tab with sub-genres... and look! There's a category called "Getting Cozy."

What makes a mystery "cozy"? When in doubt, clicking on the sub-genre will open a page giving you a description of the category.

That DOES sound cozy!

On the right side of the chosen sub-genre's page, you'll also see "Additional Lists," which may give you similar titles. For example, the "Cooking Up Crime" list will have just those mysteries that feature chefs, bakeries, catering businesses, etc. (As a bonus, cooking mysteries often include recipes in the back of the book, which thankful patrons are welcome to bring to their favorite librarians.)

NoveList vs. NoveList Plus

From the EBSCO website.

We just got the fantastic news that our library system is upgrading from NoveList to Novelist Plus! What's the difference? Novelist Plus includes both nonfiction titles and audiobooks. Fabulous!

In Conclusion

I think I've hit on most of the awesome things that NoveList can do, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few; there are just so many great corners of this database. Did I miss your favorite part? Tell me in the comments!

Want to Read More About NoveList?

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part One (Overview)
Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Three (New July Features!)