Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Lambda Literary Award and Nebulas 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.

Today I have two major awards lists to alert you to. First up are the books nominated for the Lambda Literary Award in 24 categories! From their mission statement:

For over 30 years, Lambda Literary has championed LGBTQ books and authors. No other organization in the world serves LGBTQ writers and readers more comprehensively than Lambda Literary. We believe that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer literature is fundamental to the preservation of our culture, and that LGBTQ lives are affirmed when our stories are written, published, and read.

Every year this award has more and more titles that every library worker already knows about and that makes me so happy. These are ALL books you can put on any display. Do not save them only for LGBTQ displays. 

Because there are genre categories, much of the work is done for you, but also, the titles in the top fiction categories should be on  as many displays as possible. Take Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart in the Gay Fiction category; It won the Booker Prize. Or Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas in Bisexual Fiction which was a huge Psychological Suspense- Horror genre hybrid hit last year. Or The Seep by Chana Porter in Transgender Fiction which got a star review in Booklist, and which I listened to and loved.

LGTBQ fiction is for everyone and it is NOT a genre. 

But the second award is genre based. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America present the Nebula Awards for speculative fiction in 7 categories. 

The nominees represent a diversity of voices and the types of storylines and tones you can expect in speculative fiction today. 

These two awards are both long standing and well respected. Use them for displays, collection development, and suggestions. And of course, don't forget the backlist. Both awards have easy access to past nominees.