With over six thousand new juvenile books published every year, the children of Massachusetts deserved to be introduced to some of the newer titles. Hence the Book Selection Committee made the decision to work toward a five year publishing window of eligibility for books. Initially, a ten year window for nominating books occurred and each following year the publishing window decreased by one year until the five year window is reached in 2000-2001. Publishers are printing paperback editions within one to two years of the original publication date, so paperback editions become available sooner. Although newer books are making the list, every effort continues to insure that books are available in both hardbound and paperback formats.
Libraries prefer hardbound books and classroom teachers usually prefer paperback books.
Beginning with the 1995 master list, the list of nominated books for the Massachusetts Children's Book Award contains more current books, which reflect the diversity of our society more closely. Another new facet of the Massachusetts Children's Book Award Program is the inclusion of public libraries to participate in the program. Some libraries, such as the Western Massachusetts Regional Library, have arranged purchasing cooperatives for schools within their area and encourage schools and libraries to participate. Other libraries have served as host locations for children to participate, when the local schools or specific classrooms were not participating and made available copies of the books on the Master List. Hence public libraries perform a variety of supportive roles to enable to enable children to participate in the MCBA Program.