From: Roger Sutton <rsutton>
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:01:05 -0700

I judged the NBA in 1999, and the judges can nominate titles, that is, they can request that the administrating office contact the publisher to ask that they submit the book for consideration. Another difference in eligibility from the Newbery is that the nominees must be U.S. citizens. As far as I know, while the discussion about specific books remains confidential in perpetuity, there are no secret rules: five judges find some way to settle upon five finalists, then meet over lunch to pick a winner. There is no ordained balloting system.

Roger Sutton

I don't think Ginny was referring to the internal process but rather the widely known terms she mentioned earlier in her message: that publishers themselves nominate books by paying an entry fee for each one, and that a shortlist of five titles in each category is announced in advance. These two aspects make the NBA vastly different from other U.S. children's book awards, especially those that fall under the auspices of the American Library Association. With the ALA awards, the publishers have very little input (aside from publishing and promoting the books in general) and the shortlisted titles are kept completely confidential, even after the fact.

What is not clear to me (and I don't know if answering this would be a breach of confidentiality or not) is if NBA judges can nominate titles themselves or if they're limited to the titles nominated by publishers. I think I'd find it frustrating not to be able to consider a great book that had not been nominated by a publisher.


it differs from "other national award juries." I was an NBA judge a few years ago and we were asked to not ever discuss our process so I'm not sure if I will be able to say anything in response that might not violate that trust, but I am curious about what you've heard, since you weren't supposed to have heard anything at all.

Julius Lester





Kathleen T. Horning (horning at education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 608&3930 FAX: 608&2I33

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Received on Mon 08 Jan 2001 12:01:05 PM CST