This award is designed to honor a member of the Young Adult Library Services Association who has developed an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. The winner will receive $500, as will the winner's library.

YALSA's MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens

This award honors a YALSA member for developing an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. Winners receive $500 and an additional $500 for their libraries. Applications for the MAE Award, along with all of YALSA’s grants and awards, are due to the YALSA office by Dec. 1.

The MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust.

Edwards was a well-known and innovative young adult services librarian at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Md., for more than 30 years. Her trust has supported many initiatives from YALSA, including the Alex Awards for adult books with teen appeal and all five rounds of the Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults project.

Criteria

• The purpose of the reading or literature program must be to bring young adults and books together and to encourage the development of life-long reading habits.
• The program must be specifically designed for and targeted at reaching young adults.
• All or part of the program must have taken place in the twelve months preceding the award deadline date of December 1.
• The applicant must work directly with young adults and be a personal member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
• Nonwinning entries may be resubmitted in subsequent years if the program is current and ongoing and if a new application that updates the documentation is submitted.

Guidelines

1. All entries must include the application form (Word doc) provided by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
2. All applicants must be current personal members of ALA/YALSA at the time the application is submitted. 
3. Entries should be models of clarity and completeness.
4. The application must be e-mailed to Nichole Gilbert at ngilbert@ala.org. Questions can be directed to Nichole at 1.800.545.2433 x 4387. Applications must be sent electronically. Attachments must be named the applicants last name, underscore, the name of the grant.  IE. Gilbert_MAE.
5. Applications must be received no later than December 1 of the current year.

Winners

The MAE Award was known as the Econo-Clad Award until 2000 and the Sagebrush Award from 2001-2008.

1997 - Susan R. Farber
1999 - Donna McMillen
2000 - Keith Hayes
2001 - Phyllis Saunders
2002 - Patricia Suellentrop
2003 - Paulette Goodman
2004 - Diane Tuccillo
2005 - Amelia Shelley
2006 - Vaunda Nelson
2007 - Joanna Peled
2008 - Seth Cassel
2009 - Valerie H. Nicholson