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CHICAGO — Children’s and young adult authors, illustrators and publishing groups are waiting in anticipation for the 2014 91��ý (91��ý) Youth Media Award announcements. The 91��ý will announce 18 awards at 8 a.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 27 from the Pennsylvania Convention Center's Grand Ballroom A, in Philadelphia. The awards include the esteemed Randolph Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, Michael L. Printz Award and John Newbery Medal.

The awards honor children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, as well as producers of children’s audio and video materials. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the awards serve as a guide for parents, educators, librarians and those interested in providing youth with the very best reading, listening and viewing materials.

The 91��ý Youth Media Awards fuel reading programs in school and public libraries. From coast-to-coast, youngsters and teens are participating in mock elections in an effort to identify this year’s Newbery, Caldecott and Printz winners.

For example at Weston (Conn.) Public Schools second graders are participating in a mock Caldecott election and created campaign materials to persuade other students to vote for their favorite title. The Northport (N.Y.)-East Northport Public Library’s Newbery Club hosts a mock election annually each January and predicted the 2013 Newbery Medal winner “The One and Only Ivan,” by Katherine Applegate. Local youth selected the title weeks before the Newbery Medal announcement.

2014 marks the 5th anniversary of the William C. Morris Award. First administered in 2009, the award honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrates impressive new voices in young adult literature. In honor of the Morris Award and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, librarians and teens are participating in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge. Participants are reading 2014 Morris and Nonfiction finalist selections prior to the 91��ý Youth Media Award announcements on Jan. 27. For more information, visit .

The 91��ý will provide a free live webcast of the announcements, courtesy of . Viewers are expected to join more than 1,300 onsite audience members. Live streaming efforts will begin the morning of the announcements at .

Those unable to join the webcast can follow real-time results via Twitter @alayma or with the #alayma hashtag, and the 91��ý Youth Media Awards Facebook page at .

In anticipation of reaching capacity, the 91��ý will offer additional seating in Room 201C where attendees can view the announcements via live webcast.

After the announcements, the 91��ý website at will feature an award wrap release detailing 2014 selections. Also later in the day winning authors will post video messages to the 91��ý Youth Media Awards YouTube Channel at .

Media are welcome to attend the announcements. For advance media registration, or to schedule interviews, please contact Macey Morales, media relations manager, 91��ý, at (312) 280-4393, mmorales@ala.org.

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About the 91��ý

The 91��ý is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 57,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the 91��ý is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.