Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Andrew Carnegie Medal Edition [See Also Attack of the Best Lists]

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.  

Also

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Carnegie Medal Selection Committee because a few years ago year, I was a part of that group.

Late last week, the long list was announced. But first, unfamiliar with this award? From the website:

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material. They are the first single-book awards for adult books given by the American Library Association and reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. The winning authors (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) receive a $5,000 cash award. For more information on award seals, please visit the ALA store.

A longlist comprised of no more than 50 titles is released in the fall. Six finalists, three fiction and three nonfiction, are announced in November. The winners are announced in January. All honored titles are nominated by the members of the selection committee. The awards do not accept submissions.

Part one of the selection committee's assignment is to select a long list of no more than 50 titles. 

Here is that official long list announcement for the current year:

 

 

Forty-five extraordinary books—21 fiction and 24 nonfiction—have been named to the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence longlist.

The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from longlist titles and announced on November 18, 2025. The two medal winners will be announced on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. 

Explore the full longlist and share your favorites using #ALA_Carnegie and our downloadable graphics.

Click here to see all of the titles.

Now the hard part begins for the committee as they must whittle down these 20+ titles in fiction and nonfiction to 6 titles-- 3 fiction and 3 nonfiction. That announcement will be on November 18th as noted above.

But all 45 books are excellent to suggest to a wide swath of readers. Why? Because the committee is tasked with choosing excellent examples of books for a general adult reading audience. When I was on the committee, there were some awesome nonfiction titles that we discounted because they were too academic, for example. 

I have read a few books on this list but I wanted to point out one in particular because it is amazing and it is 100% Horror-- The Unworthy by Augustina Bazterrica, Translated by Sarah Moses. I gave this book a star in LJ. 

Finally, like all of my awards lists post, I need to remind you about the backlist. The Carnegie Medal homepage has access to the winners, short list, and long list titles going all the way back to 2012 and up to the present all through a drop down menu at the top of the page. All of these titles make for excellent suggestions and the 6 annual short list titles all have an annotations for you to use to suggest them to readers immediately. 

Make sure you own all 45 books from this year and then combine those that are on the shelf with some backlist gems to make a display for the Andrew Carnegie Medal or save these up for your end of the year best lists displays. 

But most importantly, trust the library workers and book seller on the committee and suggest these titles far and wide.