91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Forty books (20 fiction, 20 nonfiction) comprising the longlist for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction have been selected. The list on the awards’ website. The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from these 40 titles and announced in mid-October 2015. The two medal winners will be announced by selection committee Chair Nancy Pearl at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards (BMAs) event at from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10 in Boston.

This is the first time the Carnegie Medal winner announcements will be made at Midwinter Meeting, reflecting the new calendar for the awards, with the shortlist announced in October, the winners in January and the popular celebratory event continuing at 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference each year. Midwinter Meeting now offers 24 hours of 91´«Ã½ book and media award excitement with the BMAs preceding the YMA announcements.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals are the first single-book awards for adult titles given by the 91´«Ã½ and reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. The Medals and the lists leading up to the selection of the winners serve as a guide to selecting quality reading material. The annually appointed selection committee includes three Booklist editors or contributors, three members of RUSA’s Collection Development and Evaluation Section’s (CODES) Notable Books Council and a representative of the American Booksellers Association. In addition to Nancy Pearl, the 2016 selection committee includes: William Kelly, branch manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Beachwood, Ohio; Danise G. Hoover, associate librarian for Public Services, Hunter College Library, New York; A. Issac Pulver, director, Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Springs, New York; David Wright, Booklist columnist and reviewer and readers’ services librarian, Seattle Public Library; and Booklist editors Donna Seaman and Joanne Wilkinson. Cathy Langer, lead buyer for the independent Tattered Cover Bookstores in Denver, is the current American Booksellers Association representative.

At the June 2015 celebration, featured speaker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was joined by Anthony Doerr, fiction winner for “All the Light We Cannot See” (Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) and Bryan Stevenson, nonfiction winner for “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” (Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House). Publishers Weekly asked of Stevenson’s speech, “”

The awards have been funded through a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York in recognition of Andrew Carnegie’s deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world. The awards are cosponsored and administered by and . Booklist also sponsors the Michael L. Printz Award, Odyssey Award and Alex Awards. RUSA’s CODES administers the Notable Books List, The Reading List, The Listen List and the Sophie Brody Medal.

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About Carnegie Corporation of New York

Carnegie Corporation of New York was established in 1911 by Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy.

About Booklist

Booklist is the book review magazine of the 91´«Ã½, considered an essential collection development and readers' advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online includes a growing archive of 160,000+ reviews available to subscribers as well as a wealth of free content offering the latest news and views on books and media.

About the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is a member community engaged in advancing the practices of connecting people to resources, information services, and collections, building relationships among members from all types of libraries, encouraging openness, innovation, and idea sharing, and promoting excellence in library services and resources.

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