Awards - FAQ

At this time, there are a total of nine award categories. For each category, one award will be given and 1-2 official honor runner-ups may be named. There are 9 official award winners:

• Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Adult Series
• Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Nonfiction, Young Adult Series
• Children Fiction, Children Nonfiction, and Children Series

The award will be virtually announced in January or February following the review year. Awards will be presented at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June.

The Outstanding Comics Award specifically recognizes graphic novels for library audiences and is selected by library specialists. The Award strives to highlight exceptional comics publishing, strengthen comics as a literary format, and promote high-quality works for both the comics and library communities.

Eligible graphic novels for the Outstanding Comics Award should appeal to one of the three age categories: children (ages 12 and below), young adults (ages 13-19), or adults (ages 20 and above).

Definition of a Graphic Novel

For this committee, graphic novels are trade compilations and original works published in the sequential art format with an overarching story and/or theme. Comic strip and anthology collections may be nominated.

Publication Date

Eligible titles will have a print publication date between November 1 of the previous year and December 31 of the current award year (for example, November 1, 2024-December 31, 2025).

Formats

Accepted formats include the following:

• Bound, published trades.
• Ebooks that would be equivalent to a bound print volume.

Formats not accepted include:

• Individual comic book issues.
• Self-published works that are not readily accessible.
• Webcomics/webtoons not collected in either a print or ebook volume (a publication date is required).

Eligible titles will have a print publication date between November 1 of the previous year and December 31 of the current award year (for example, November 1, 2024-December 31, 2025). Late nominations will be allowed at the discretion of the committee chairs in cases of book access issues/delays.

Titles are only eligible for this award if they are readily available for purchase by most U.S. libraries at the time of consideration. Titles only available through crowdfunding, limited self-publishing, or otherwise not available through distributors are not eligible. A general recommendation would be for titles to be available through library book vendors and/or major retailers like Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Webcomics are only eligible if they also have a print edition or an official ebook edition with a publication date.

Although titles may be published internationally, they must be distributed in the United States or North America or be otherwise readily available to U.S. libraries.

TItles may include multiple languages but should be readable by a primarily English-speaking audience.

There are a total of three award committees, one for each age group (adult, young adult, and children). Each committee is responsible for selecting the winners and honors in those age categories. Committee members nominate books based on a common rubric, with nominations closing on November 15th.

Throughout the year, the committees meet virtually to discuss the merits of nominated titles. In late November and December, meetings focus on considering all nominated titles and narrowing the list to a group of top contenders. In January, committee members select award winners and honors from this group during a formal deliberation process.

Members and chairs are appointed by the GNCRT President. Jurors are GNCRT members who are current or recently retired library staff, including librarians, school media specialists, clerical staff, assistants, trainees, and library school students. The President is encouraged to appoint members from different backgrounds, library environments, age specialties, and experience levels to ensure that committees are diverse and reflective of the broad range of library worker experiences.

Committees have an odd number of members to prevent ties or deadlock. Committees generally have nine or eleven members (including chairs). Committee members serve two-year terms, with half of the jury rotating on and another half rotating off. This ensures there are people who have experience and people with new perspectives. In order to put this system in place while the award is new, all jurors will serve for at least two years, with some members staying on for a third.

Publisher and publisher-adjacent GNCRT members are ineligible to serve on award juries. Comics professionals who are also library staff may serve on juries if they do not have eligible works published during their tenure on the committee. Prospective and current committee members should disclose any conflicts of interests to the chairs.

Yes! There are three awards dedicated to series, one for each age group. For series awards, committee members will read and evaluate the majority of the series. At least one committee member will read all preceding volumes to ensure consistent quality.

Yes, if the reprint or reissue includes content that is new and/or unique to the nominated edition.

Yes! The selection committee welcomes review copies for consideration (print or digital). For more information an to submit review copies for consideration, please use our GNCRT Outstanding Comics Awards Review Copy Submissions form.