Nominations sought for 2015 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Lifetime Achievement Award

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) is accepting nominations for the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Lifetime Achievement Award.



The award is named for award-winning children’s author Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002), recipient of the 1983, 1986 and 1996 Coretta Scott King Book Award, 1974 National Book Award and the 1975 John Newbery Medal. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of Hamilton’s exemplary contributions through her literature and advocacy for children and youth, especially in her focus on African-American life, history and consciousness.

In odd-numbered years, practitioners will be recognized, while authors, illustrators or author/illustrators will be honored in even-numbered years. Previous recipients of the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Lifetime Achievement Award include Dr. Henrietta Mays Smith, professor emerita at the University of South Florida, Tampa, School of Library and Information Science, and Demetria Tucker, family and youth services librarian for the Pearl Bailey Library, a branch of the Newport News (Va.) Public Library System.

Nominees must have a minimum of 10 years of service using African-American literature to promote reading activities and programs for children and young adults.

Eligible practitioners may include:

• Public, academic or school (public or private) librarians;
• Educators (Pre K-12, public or private);
• College or University faculty;
• Youth literature advocates whose vocations, work, volunteer service or ongoing promotion of books with and/or on behalf of youth is significant and sustained.

The winning recipient will be honored at the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast during the 2015 ALA Annual Convention Conference in San Francisco and will receive a medal and a $1,500 cash award.

To submit a nomination, please visit www.ala.org/csk. Nominations will be accepted through Dec. 15, 2014. The winning recipient will be notified on Monday Feb. 2, 2015 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago.

The recipient will be selected by a five-member award jury from the Coretta Scott King- Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Committee of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The award is administered by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of EMIERT and is supported by the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS).

The Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award is part of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, which honor African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to "the African American experience via literature and illustration." The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to work for peace and world brotherhood.