Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: LA Times Book Prize 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.  

Tonight the 44th Annual LA Times Book Prizes will be given out. Click here for all of the details, including a list of finalists in 12 categories.

Of course I am parietal to the SF/FSY finalists-- 3 of which were among my favorite reads of 2023:

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
• Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
• Lone Women by Victor LaValle.

But the LA Times Book Prize finalists are a stacked bunch. Click here to browse all of the categories, but also here is a screen shot of what they are:

I love that these categories take how readers see books into play. You can use words like "History" and "Current Events" to have conversations with readers about what they are looking for.

Go forth and do the usual with this list (see the header if you are new to this rodeo). Remember, these are all books that came out in 2023, so they will probably be available on shelf to suggest and display. You should 100% own every single one of these titles. Hand down, no excuses. These are all titles you can own and suggest to a wide variety of readers with confidence.

This would be such a great display near the entrance of the library. Gather the fiction, nonfiction, poetry, YA, and audiobooks all together in one display. Print out something from the website to post as well. They have some great graphics. Show people the breadth of your holdings and promote a current event, with books that are ready for check out right now. They will love it, and really, it is not that much work for you to do. This is the power of using resources to help readers in a nutshell.

There is also a "History" tab for the awards which allows easy and graphically appealing access to finalists and winners in every category going back to 2011. 

Remember "best" does not have a shelf life. The titles from the last 8 years especially, are still excellent sure bet suggestions to your readers. And the conversation starter is on the page for you.. Ex: "This book was a finalist for the SciFi/Fanatsy award in 2019. You might have missed it but here you go." Remember, if it is new to your reader, you have helped them find something they could not have found without you. It does not have to be new to the world, just new to them. The backlist is our best asset. It is what we have that bookstores do not. We also have a human helping them to find the titles they might like, not an algorithm. Lean in to this. 

Back to that display near your entrance-- grab some titles from the last two years if you need help filling the display out.

One last note, the awards ceremony tonight kicks off a full weekend of the LA Times Festival of Books. I think some of it may be available online, but if not, simply looking at the schedule and panels will give you a great idea of topics and genres and books that are worth your time.

Good luck to my friends, Due, Kraus, and LaValle. I know you can't all win, but you all deserve it.