Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence Long List 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.   

This one is special because I was a part of it. 

For those who want to cut to the chase-- here the official 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Fiction and Nonfiction Long List. 

I was so very proud to be asked to be on the committee that selects the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellent in Fiction and Nonfiction for 2023 [books published in 2022]. 

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 winners (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) are announced at an event at the ALA Midwinter Meeting; winning authors 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 at the RUSA Book and Media Awards Ceremony in February.  All honored titles are nominated by the members of the selection committee. The awards do not accept submissions.

I had no idea what to expect being a part of a major literary award, but I am happy to report, so far it has been one of the best and most rewarding experiences of my professional career. And a happy outcome from our monthly meetings all year, I have gotten to spend time with old friends and make new ones as well.

Part one of our assignment was to select a long list of no more than 50 titles. Well, today, we are happy to announce that long list of adult fiction and nonfiction that is of exceptional literary merit and accessible to a general adult reading audience.

Here is that official announcement.  And here is the announcement from Booklist with review access for every title.

But now the hard part begins, we must whittle down these 20+ titles in fiction and nonfiction to 6 titles-- 3 fiction and 3 nonfiction. 

Today, we celebrate part one, and get to share our excitement and joy with the world, but tomorrow it is back to work on that short list. It is exciting but daunting. I know we can do it. I am very rpoud of our committee and the list we have created together. 

The other good news, I can now finally add these books to my Goodreads account, including one I just reviewed for Booklist. [More on that title in a few days]. 

And finally, like all of my awards lists post, I need to remind you about the backlist. The site has access to the winners, short list, and long list titles going all the way back to 2012 and up to the present all with one click. 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. 

Now back to today and the official 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Long List.

From the announcement: 

Forty-three books (22 fiction, 21 nonfiction) have been selected for the longlist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from longlist titles and announced on November 15, 2022. The two medal winners will be announced by 2023 selection committee chair Stephen Sposato at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards live streaming event, during LibLearnX on Sunday, January 29th at 4:30 p.m. CT. The celebratory event, including presentations by the winners and a featured speaker, will take place at the 2023 ALA Annual Conference in June 2023 in Chicago.

Carnegie Medal winners will each receive $5,000.

Share your favorite Andrew Carnegie Medal shortlist titles on social media using the #ALA_Carnegie hashtag!

And from Booklist with review access.