Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Libby Book Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

Let's kick off the week with a newer award list announcement, but one you should not sleep on because it is handpicked, proven winners as chosen by librarians!

 

Announcing the finalists for the 2025 Libby Book Awards

Roll out the red carpet—award season is here! While Hollywood celebrates the best in film, TV, and music, we’re honoring the best in books from the 2024 publishing season with the second annual Libby Book Awards, aka The Libbys.

A panel of librarians have meticulously narrowed it down to five finalists in each of the 20 categories, spanning genres, formats, and age groups. Across North America, librarians and library workers will then cast their votes to determine the year’s best books.

We’ll reveal the winners on March 5! Be sure to subscribe to Libby Life for the reveal of this year’s top picks.

Want more insider scoop? Tune in to our latest podcast episode where we unveil the finalists and go behind the scenes with expert commentary on these powerhouse titles.

And now, without further ado, the nominees are...

Click through to see the MANY categories for this award-- 20!. Any or all of these books are great sure bets for their categories. There are genres, nonfiction split-up into many categories, including cookbooks, graphic novels, books for kids,...and more!

Remember, as it says above, these titles were chosen by a panel of librarians...not critics. These books are proven winners with the toughest audience-- library workers who suggest books to their patrons. As we know, our patrons let us know when they love a book but also when they hate it. 

And because it is Libby's award, there is a link to the eBook and the eAudio for each title.

Did I mention ALL the genres and categories here? Oh yeah, I did, but I need to repeat it again. If you cannot find something for your readers, you haven't scrolled through the entire list.

Just grab all of these titles, the books that are on your shelves right now, and put them on display and call it "2024 Proven Winners That You May Have Missed." Yes, I know this award is for the e-versions, but who cares? You should also make a QR code to send people to Libby to read them there, but you are not going to library jail if you put the physical books up for the Libbys on display. Your patrons don't care who said these books are awesome, they just want to know that that someone, somewhere, said they are great reads.

This is only the second year for the Libby's so the backlist is short, but you can access it here.

Keep this list, and last year's in your pocket to pullout when you have a hard to please patron or your mind goes blank-- all year long!