ALA to provide live Webcast of top children/teen literary awards announcement January 22

Contacts:
Larra Clark/Macey Morales
ALA Media Relations
312-280-5043/4393
For Immediate Release


January 9, 2007

ALA to provide live Webcast of top children/teen literary awards announcement January 22

(CHICAGO) Following a successful 2006 pilot, the American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live Webcast of its national announcement of the top books and video for children and young adults - including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards - on January 22 at 7:45 a.m. PST. The award announcements are made as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, which will bring together more than 10,000 librarians, publishers, authors and guests in Seattle from January 19 to 24.

Unikron, a streaming content provider, will host the ALA’s Webcast. Online visitors will be able to view the live Webcast the morning of the announcements by going to
www.unikron.com/ala-webcast. This link is not yet live, but librarians and others interested in following the action online should bookmark and use this URL - instead of the ALA home page - on January 22. The number of available connections for the Webcast will be limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The press release announcing all of the winners will be available online at
www.ala.org/mw07winners at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

For ALA Midwinter Meeting participants, the press conference will be held in the Washington State Convention and Trade Center room 6B/6C, and doors open at 7:30 a.m.

Awards to be announced January 22 are:

  • Alex Awards for the best adult books that appeal to teen audience



  • Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video



  • Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children



  • Coretta Scott King Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to "the true worth and value of all beings"



  • Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults



  • May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site



  • Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults



  • Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States



  • Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature



  • Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children



  • Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience



  • Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the outstanding book for beginning reader



  • Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for a substantial and lasting contribution to children’s literature

Adult book awards also announced during the conference include: Notable Books for Adults, the Black Caucus of the ALA Literary Awards and the Stonewall Awards. For more information on ALA literary awards, please visit:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bookmediaawards .