Newbery Medal

Frederic G. Melcher first proposed the idea for the Newbery Award.

The Newbery Medal was established on June 22, 1921, at the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA).[6] Proposed by Publishers Weekly editor Frederick Melcher, the proposal was well received by the children's librarians present and then approved by the ALA Executive Board.[7] The award was administered by the ALA from the start, but Melcher provided funds that paid for the design and production of the medal.[8]^:59 The Newbery Medal was inaugurated in 1922, considering books published in 1921.[9]^:1[lower-alpha 1] According to The Newbery and Caldecott Awards Melcher and the ALA Board agreed to establish the award for several reasons that related to children's librarians. They wanted to encourage quality, creative children's books and to demonstrate to the public that children's books deserve recognition and praise.[4]^:1 In 1932 the committee felt it was important to encourage new writers in the field, so a rule was made that an author would win a second Newbery only if the vote was unanimous.The rule was in place until 1958.[4]^:2 Joseph Krumgold became the first winner of a second Newbery in 1960. Another change, in 1963, made it clear that joint authors of a book were eligible for the award.[4]^:2 Several more revisions and clarifications were added in the 1970s and 1980s.[4]^:2–3 Significantly in 1971, the term Newbery Honor was introduced. Runners-up had been identified annually from the start, with a few exceptions only during the 1920s; all those runners-up were named Newbery Honor Books retroactively.[4]^:2[7]

Committee

John Newbery, called "The Father of Children's Literature", was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market.[10]

As Barbara Elleman explained in The Newbery and Caldecott Awards, the original Newbery was based on votes by a selected jury of Children's Librarian Section officers. Books were first nominated by any librarian, then the jury voted for one favorite. Hendrik van Loon's non-fiction history book The Story of Mankind won with 163 votes out of 212.[11]^:11 In 1924 the process was changed, and instead of using popular vote it was decided that a special award committee would be formed to select the winner. The award committee was made up of the Children's Librarian Section executive board, their book evaluation committee and three members at large. In 1929 it was changed again to the four officers, the chairs of the standing committees and the ex-president. Nominations were still taken from members at large.[11]^:13

In 1937 the American Library Association added the Caldecott Award, for "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States".[12] That year an award committee selected the Medal and Honor books for both awards.[8]^:7 In 1978 the rules were changed and two committees were formed of fifteen people each, one for each award. A new committee is formed every year, with "eight elected, six appointed, and one appointed Chair".[4]^:7 The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Committee members are chosen to represent a wide variety of libraries, teachers and book reviewers. They read the books on their own time, then meet twice a year for closed discussions. Any book that qualifies is eligible; it does not have to have been nominated. The Newbery is given to the "author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceeding year."[4] ^:4 Newbery winners are announced at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, held in January or February.[9]^:8 The Honor Books must be a subset of the runners-up on the final ballot, either the leading runners-up on that ballot or the leaders on one further ballot that excludes the winner.[8]^:37 The results of the committee vote are kept secret, and winners are notified by phone shortly before the award is announced.[4]^:8 In 2015, K. T. Horning of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center proposed to ALSC that old discussions of the Newbery and Caldecott be made public in the service of researchers and historians.[13] This proposal was met with both support and criticism by former committee members and recognized authors.[14][15]

In October 2008, Anita Silvey, a children's literary expert, published an article in the School Library Journal criticizing the committee for choosing books that are too difficult for children.[3][16] Lucy Calkins, of the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University's Teachers College, agreed with Silvey: "I can't help but believe that thousands, even millions, more children would grow up reading if the Newbery committee aimed to spotlight books that are deep and beautiful and irresistible to kids".[3] But then–ALSC President Pat Scales said, "The criterion has never been popularity. It is about literary quality. How many adults have read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning books and... liked every one?"[3] John Beach, associate professor of literacy education at St. John's University in New York, compared the books that adults choose for children with the books that children choose for themselves and found that in the past 30 years there is only a five percent overlap between the Children's Choice Awards (International Reading Association) and the Notable Children's Books list (American Library Association).[3] He has also stated that "the Newbery has probably done far more to turn kids off to reading than any other book award in children's publishing."[3]

Listed below are all authors who have won at least two Newbery Medals or who have three or more Medals and/or Honors.     Won a Newbery Medal and Honor

Isaac Bashevis Singer's first Newbery Honor Book, Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories, also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.[20]

Jennifer Holm's first book, Our Only May Amelia was sparked by her Great Aunt's diaries and won a Newbery Honor.[21]

• Carnegie Medal for a children's or young-adult book published in the UK
• Michael L. Printz Award for a young-adult book published in the US
• Caldecott Medal for illustration of an American children's picture book
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for lifetime contribution to American children's literature
• Hans Christian Andersen Award for lasting contribution to children's literature
• Ebook Central Academic Complete. In the Words of the Winners: The Newbery and Caldecott Medals, 2001-2010. Chicago: American Library Association, 2011.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Newbery Medal.

• Official website
• Online editions of Newbery Honor Books and Medal Winners by Women, 1922–1964
• Newbery Medal winners at Faded Page (Canada)
• The Newbery & Caldecott Awards Web Extra: an archive of "distinctive essays" from previous editions of the book.
• The Newbery Video (Part 2), written by Mona Kerby and funded by the International Reading Association highlights favorite Newbery Award books and authors.
• Choices Booklists: Children’s Choices
• Interview with Newbery Judge, on Beyond the Margins
• Newbery Medal Winners and Honor Books (including cover art) at smallfrybooks
• Lindsay, Nina. "More on the Newbery nomination process". Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog. School Library Journal. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
• Caldecott and Newbery Medal Wins Bring Instant Boost to Book Sales