91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Cathy Langer, lead buyer for the independent Tattered Cover Bookstores in Denver, Colorado, joins the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction selection committee. She was chosen by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to represent independent booksellers on the committee, reflecting the impact and influence of the awards on general readers beyond the library.

“I'm thrilled to be on the committee,” Langer said. “My daily work and passion is finding the best in fiction and nonfiction for our customers and I'm honored to be involved with a prestigious award that underscores the importance of the reader.” Langer has served on the board of the American Booksellers Association and is a past president of the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association and The Colorado Center for the Book.

The 2016 committee is already starting work on selecting the prestigious awards that reflect the judgment and insight of experts who work closely with adult readers. The new committee has been appointed earlier than in previous years to accommodate a calendar shift in the awards schedule. The calendar after 2015 and going forward has the shortlist announcements made in October (for books published during that calendar year) and winner announcements in January at the 91´«Ã½ Midwinter Meeting. The schedule to date has been April (shortlist) and June (winners) for books published in the previous year. The celebratory event will continue to be held at 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference each June, including presentations by the two winners and a featured speaker.

Nancy Pearl, who served as chair of the selection committee for the first three years of the award, has returned to chair the 2016 committee to help with the transition, since some work of the 2015 and 2016 committees will overlap. Other confirmed members of the 2016 committee include: 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.

The 2015 committee includes Booklist’s Adult Books Editor Brad Hooper (chair), two Booklist editors—Donna Seaman, senior editor, adult books, and Keir Graff, editor, Booklist Online—and three members of Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES): Elizabeth Olesh, director, Baldwin Public Library, Baldwin, New York; Katharine J. Phenix, adult services librarian, Rangeview Library District (Anythink Libraries), Thornton, Colorado; and Kathleen de la Peña McCook, distinguished university professor of librarianship, University of South Florida, School of Information. Betsy Burton, owner of The King's English in Salt Lake City and vice president of the American Booksellers Association represents independent booksellers on the committee.

The 2015 longlist will be announced in early February, followed by the six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—in April. The two winning titles will be revealed at a celebratory event at 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in June in San Francisco. This year for the first time, publishers and attendees may for the announcements and dessert reception. are available as always at the when you register for the conference or may be added later.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals were established in 2012 by the 91´«Ã½ and Carnegie Corporation of New York to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books written for adult readers and published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are the first single-book awards for adult titles given by 91´«Ã½ and are cosponsored and administered by and .

For more information and to see past longlists, shortlists, and winners, visit .

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