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Michael L. Printz Award
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From: MrMCart at aol.com <MrMCart>
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 14:05:06 EST
Dear members of the CCBC community,
KT Horning has asked that I post a message about the establishment of the Michael L. Printz Award. Here, in brief, is how it happened:
Like so many of us who are devoted to young adult literature I had, for many years, been a party to endless conversations lamenting the absence of an award for the best young adult book of the year. This seemed an irrelevant matter in the early '90s when many observers were pronouncing YA literature
"dead." That there was still life in this body of literature was evidenced, however, by the 1994 YALSA Preconference in Miami Beach that produced not only the Top 100 Countdown list of the best young adult books since 1967 but also fostered a lively discussion of the then current state of the literature. This was followed by another significant program at ALA's 1996 Annual conference in New York, a program that focussed attention on the need for an older young adult literature --what is now called "crossover" fiction and is epitomized by the work of Francesca Lia Block (who spoke at the 1996 program).
As the teen population began dramatically growing (as early as 1992) and as the academic community began discovering the literary viability of the genre, more and more attention began to focus on young adult literature, as was further evidenced by the reintroduction - in 1996 -- of the National Book Award in the category of books for young readers (the first three NBAs went to young adult books) and the 1998 addition of a young adult fiction category to the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
With this as context, I - as then President of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) - proposed to the YALSA Executive Committee in the spring of 1998 that I appoint a task force to investigate the feasibility of establishing a best young adult book award. With the approval of the Executive Committee, I then appointed a nine-member task force, which I chaired. We met for the first time at the 1998 Annual conference in Washington, DC and quickly agreed that such an award was not only a viable but long overdue consideration. We agreed that "best" should be determined solely on literary merit, and that "young adult book" might include not only fiction but also nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and anthologies. The book might have been published in another country previously, provided that an American edition had appeared during the period of eligibility. Significantly, we also agreed that to be eligible, a book must have been published expressly for young adults, a group we defined - as does YALSA - as readers aged twelve through eighteen. This meant that books published as adult titles would not be eligible. It also meant that a book could be eligible for both the new YA award and the Newbery, since there is an area of overlap (12).
All of these preliminary considerations were not capricious but purposeful. The task force wanted to serve notice on the world that young adult literature had come of age AS LITERATURE. We also wanted to notice the fact that young adult literature was now a global phenomenon. And, by insisting the book be published for young readers, we wanted to enoucrage publishers to expand the number of young books on their lists - in a variety of literary forms and genres.
Following the Annual meeting, YALSA created a closed list serv so that the task force could continue its work and deliberations electronically (this worked, by the way, exceedingly well!). Hoping to take advantage of the symbolic cachet of presenting the first award at Annual 2000, the task force put its work on a very fast track and a report was ready for presentation to the YASLA Board on Friday afternoon at Midwinter 1999. Our recommendations included the acceptance of "Booklist" magazine's offer to sponsor the award. The Board approved the report in concept. That evening an open forum was held so the task force could present its preliminary report to the YALSA membership and other interested observers. Responding to input, the task force changed its recommendation vis-?-vis membership on the awards committee from a staggered, three-year term to a one-year term. The following morning I presented our recommendations to the ALA Awards Committee, which accepted them unanimously. The revised report then went back to the YALSA Board, which also approved it unanimously. It was at this Board meeting that it was decided to name the award in honor of the late Mike Printz, former librarian of the Topeka West High School in Kansas and a nationally known advocate of young adult literature. The YALSA Board also asked the Task Force to prepare guidelines for the operation of the Printz Award committee. This work was completed in March 1999 and approved by the YALSA Executive Committee at its spring meeting. In the meantime then YALSA President-Elect Jana Fine had appointed the first nine-member Printz Award Committee, which had already begun its preliminary deliberations (subsequent committees will be formed by a combination of appointment and election).
The rest, as they say, is history. I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary hard work and dedication of the members of the task force. They were: Marc Aronson, Frances Bradburn (who went on to chair the first Printz Award committee), Dr. Gwendolyn Davis, Kirsten Edwards, David Gale, Mary Purucker, Hazel Rochman, and Ed Sullivan. Professionally we were editors
(two), reviewers/critics (two), one reading specialist, public librarians
(two), and school librarians (two). And geographically we represented West, Midwest, South, and East areas of the U.S.
"Booklist" magazine is the sponsor of the award (as "School Library Journal" is the sponsor of the Margaret A. Edwards Award).
Further background information about the Printz Award is contained in two articles I've published:"Begetting an Award" in "Booklist" for September 1995 and "Creating the Michael L. Printz Award" in "JOYS" for Summer 1999.
Of course, I'd be glad to answer any questions about the creation of the award.
Michael Cart, YALSA Past-President
Received on Wed 23 Feb 2000 01:05:06 PM CST
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 14:05:06 EST
Dear members of the CCBC community,
KT Horning has asked that I post a message about the establishment of the Michael L. Printz Award. Here, in brief, is how it happened:
Like so many of us who are devoted to young adult literature I had, for many years, been a party to endless conversations lamenting the absence of an award for the best young adult book of the year. This seemed an irrelevant matter in the early '90s when many observers were pronouncing YA literature
"dead." That there was still life in this body of literature was evidenced, however, by the 1994 YALSA Preconference in Miami Beach that produced not only the Top 100 Countdown list of the best young adult books since 1967 but also fostered a lively discussion of the then current state of the literature. This was followed by another significant program at ALA's 1996 Annual conference in New York, a program that focussed attention on the need for an older young adult literature --what is now called "crossover" fiction and is epitomized by the work of Francesca Lia Block (who spoke at the 1996 program).
As the teen population began dramatically growing (as early as 1992) and as the academic community began discovering the literary viability of the genre, more and more attention began to focus on young adult literature, as was further evidenced by the reintroduction - in 1996 -- of the National Book Award in the category of books for young readers (the first three NBAs went to young adult books) and the 1998 addition of a young adult fiction category to the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
With this as context, I - as then President of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) - proposed to the YALSA Executive Committee in the spring of 1998 that I appoint a task force to investigate the feasibility of establishing a best young adult book award. With the approval of the Executive Committee, I then appointed a nine-member task force, which I chaired. We met for the first time at the 1998 Annual conference in Washington, DC and quickly agreed that such an award was not only a viable but long overdue consideration. We agreed that "best" should be determined solely on literary merit, and that "young adult book" might include not only fiction but also nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and anthologies. The book might have been published in another country previously, provided that an American edition had appeared during the period of eligibility. Significantly, we also agreed that to be eligible, a book must have been published expressly for young adults, a group we defined - as does YALSA - as readers aged twelve through eighteen. This meant that books published as adult titles would not be eligible. It also meant that a book could be eligible for both the new YA award and the Newbery, since there is an area of overlap (12).
All of these preliminary considerations were not capricious but purposeful. The task force wanted to serve notice on the world that young adult literature had come of age AS LITERATURE. We also wanted to notice the fact that young adult literature was now a global phenomenon. And, by insisting the book be published for young readers, we wanted to enoucrage publishers to expand the number of young books on their lists - in a variety of literary forms and genres.
Following the Annual meeting, YALSA created a closed list serv so that the task force could continue its work and deliberations electronically (this worked, by the way, exceedingly well!). Hoping to take advantage of the symbolic cachet of presenting the first award at Annual 2000, the task force put its work on a very fast track and a report was ready for presentation to the YASLA Board on Friday afternoon at Midwinter 1999. Our recommendations included the acceptance of "Booklist" magazine's offer to sponsor the award. The Board approved the report in concept. That evening an open forum was held so the task force could present its preliminary report to the YALSA membership and other interested observers. Responding to input, the task force changed its recommendation vis-?-vis membership on the awards committee from a staggered, three-year term to a one-year term. The following morning I presented our recommendations to the ALA Awards Committee, which accepted them unanimously. The revised report then went back to the YALSA Board, which also approved it unanimously. It was at this Board meeting that it was decided to name the award in honor of the late Mike Printz, former librarian of the Topeka West High School in Kansas and a nationally known advocate of young adult literature. The YALSA Board also asked the Task Force to prepare guidelines for the operation of the Printz Award committee. This work was completed in March 1999 and approved by the YALSA Executive Committee at its spring meeting. In the meantime then YALSA President-Elect Jana Fine had appointed the first nine-member Printz Award Committee, which had already begun its preliminary deliberations (subsequent committees will be formed by a combination of appointment and election).
The rest, as they say, is history. I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary hard work and dedication of the members of the task force. They were: Marc Aronson, Frances Bradburn (who went on to chair the first Printz Award committee), Dr. Gwendolyn Davis, Kirsten Edwards, David Gale, Mary Purucker, Hazel Rochman, and Ed Sullivan. Professionally we were editors
(two), reviewers/critics (two), one reading specialist, public librarians
(two), and school librarians (two). And geographically we represented West, Midwest, South, and East areas of the U.S.
"Booklist" magazine is the sponsor of the award (as "School Library Journal" is the sponsor of the Margaret A. Edwards Award).
Further background information about the Printz Award is contained in two articles I've published:"Begetting an Award" in "Booklist" for September 1995 and "Creating the Michael L. Printz Award" in "JOYS" for Summer 1999.
Of course, I'd be glad to answer any questions about the creation of the award.
Michael Cart, YALSA Past-President
Received on Wed 23 Feb 2000 01:05:06 PM CST
