Carnegie Medal (literary award)
The Carnegie Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). CILIP calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". The Medal is named after the Scottish-born American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), who founded more than 2,800 libraries in the English-speaking world, including at least one in more than half of British library authorities. It was established in 1936 by  the British Library Association, to celebrate the centenary of Carnegie's birth and inaugurated in 1937 with the award to Arthur Ransome for "Pigeon Post" (1936) and the identification of two 'commended' books. The first Medal was dated 1936, but since 2007 the Medal has been dated by its year of presentation, which is now one or two years after publication. In 1955, the Kate Greenaway Medal was established as a companion to the Carnegie Medal. The Kate Greenaway Medal recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". Both awards were established and administered by the Library Association, until it  was succeeded by CILIP in 2002. Nominated books must be written in English and first published in the UK during the preceding school year (September to August). Until 1969, the award was limited to books by British authors first published in England. The first non-British medalist was Australian author Ivan Southall for "Josh" (1972). The original rules also prohibited winning authors from future consideration. The first author to win a second Carnegie Medal was Peter Dickinson in 1981, who won consecutively for "Tulku" and "City of Gold". There were eight repeat winners to 2018. The winner is awarded a  gold medal and £500 worth of books donated to the winner's chosen library. In addition, since 2016 the winner has received a £5,000 cash prize from the Colin Mears bequest. Latest rendition. Jason Reynolds won the 2021 Carnegie Medal for "Look Both Ways", an anthology of ten stories about children walking home from school. There were eight books on the 2021 shortlist, each published between September 2019 and August 2020: Recommended ages have ranged from 8+ to 14+ for books on the shortlist since 2001. Process. CILIP members may nominate books each September and October , with the full list of valid nominations published in November. The longlist, chosen by the judges from the nominated books, is published in February. The judging panel comprises 12 children's librarians, all of whom are members of CILIP's Youth Libraries Group (YLG). The shortlist is announced in March and the winner in June. Titles must be English-language works first published in the UK during the preceding year (1 September to 31 August). According to CILIP, "all categories of books, including poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels, in print or ebook format, for children and young people are  eligible". Multiple-author anthologies are excluded; however, co-authored single works are eligible. Young people from across the UK take part in shadowing groups organised by secondary schools and public libraries, to read and discuss the shortlisted books. CILIP instructs the judging panel to consider plot, characterisation, and style "where appropriate". Furthermore, it states that "the book that wins the Carnegie Medal should be a book of outstanding literary quality. The whole work should provide pleasure, not merely from the surface enjoyment of a good read, but also the deeper subconscious satisfaction of having gone through a vicarious, but at  the time of reading, a real experience that is retained afterwards". A diversity review in 2018 led to changes in the nomination and judging process to promote better representation of ethnic minority authors and books. Winners. Up to 2021 there have been 82 Medals awarded over 85 years, spanning the period from 1936 to 2020. No eligible book published in 1943, 1945, or 1966 was considered suitable by the judging panel. From 2007 onward, the medals are dated by the year of presentation. Prior to this, they were dated by the calendar year of their British publication. Forty-one winning  books were illustrated in their first editions, including every one during the first three decades. Six from 1936 to 1953 were illustrated or co-illustrated by their authors; none since then. Winners of multiple awards. Eight authors have won two Carnegie Medals, which was prohibited for many years. For many years, some runners-up books were designated Highly Commended, at least 29 in 24 years from 1979 to 2002 and three previously. Among the authors who won two Medals, Anne Fine was highly commended runner-up three times (1989, 1996, 2002) and Robert Westall twice (1990, 1992). The others were  highly commended once each, except for Ness who postdates the distinction, Six books have won both the Carnegie Medal and the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, which was inaugurated 1967. Only "A Monster Calls", written by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay, has won both the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals (2012). Only "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman (2009) has won both the Carnegie Medal and the equivalent American award, the Newbery Medal. Author Sharon Creech, who won the Carnegie for "Ruby Holler" (2002), previously won the Newbery and two U.K. awards for "Walk Two Moons" (1994). Four  writers have won both the Carnegie and the US Michael L. Printz Award. The Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognises the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". The four writers are David Almond, Aidan Chambers, Geraldine McCaughrean, and Meg Rosoff. Chambers alone has won both for the same book, the 1999 Carnegie and 2003 Printz for the novel "Postcards from No Man's Land". In its scope, books for children or young adults, the British Carnegie corresponds to the American Newbery and Printz awards. Carnegie of Carnegies. To commemorate  the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Medal in 2007, CILIP created a 'Living Archive' on the Carnegie Medal website with information about each of the winning books and conducted a poll to identify the nation's favourite Carnegie Medal winner, to be named the "Carnegie of Carnegies". The winner, announced on 21 June 2007 at the British Library, was "Northern Lights" by Philip Pullman (1995). It was the expected winner, garnering 40% of the votes in the UK, and 36% worldwide. 70th Anniversary Top Ten "Northern Lights", with 40% of the public vote, was followed by 16% for "Tom's  Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce and 8% for "Skellig" by David Almond. As those three books had won the 70-year-old Medal in its year 60, year 23, and year 63, some commentary observed that "Tom's Midnight Garden" had passed a test of time that the others had not yet faced. Shortlists. Date is year of publication before 2006. Selections were announced and medals presented early in the next year. 1936 to 1993. From 1936 to 1993, there were 55 Medals awarded in 58 years. CCSU library listings for that period include one Special Commendation, 23 Highly Commended  books (from 1966, mainly from 1979), and about 130 Commended books. Except for the inaugural year 1936, only the 24 Special and Highly Commended books are listed here. Medalist: Commended: CCSU listings for 1954 include six commendations, the first since 1936. Beginning 1966 there were some "high commendations" and those were approximately annual by 1979. Only the high commendations are listed here (through 1993). The special commendation to Harold Jones in 1955 for his 1954 illustration of "Lavender's Blue" was "a major reason" for the Library Association to establish the Kate Greenaway Medal that year. No 1955 work was  judged worthy in 1956, so that Medal was actually inaugurated one year later. 1994 to 2002. Through 2002 some runners-up were Commended, including some Highly Commended. Where the entire shortlist is given here (back to 1994), boldface and asterisk (*) marks the winner, plus (+) marks the highly commended books, and dash (–) marks the commended books. 1994 (8) 1995 (8) 1996 (8) 1997 (7) 1998 (5) 1999 (8) 2000 (8) 2001 (8) 2002 (7) 2003 to date. Runners-up within the shortlist are not distinguished since 2002. 2003 (6) 2004 (6) 2005 (5) Date is year of presentation after 2006 . The publication year is approximately the preceding school year; for 2012 example, September 2010 to August 2011. 2007 (6) 2008 (7) 2009 (7) 2010 (10) 2011 (6) 2012 (8) 2013 (8) 2014 (8) The award to Brooks roused some controversy because of the bleak nature of the novel. 2015 (8) 2016 (8) 2017 (8) "The Bone Sparrow" received an Amnesty CILIP Honour commendation. 2018 (8) "The Hate U Give" received an Amnesty CILIP Honour commendation. 2019 2020 2021 2022