Rainbow Books Selection Procedures

General Information

Books considered for the bibliography are to have been published within the assigned calendar year or between July 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year. Eligibility of books originally published outside the United States will be determined according to the original publication dates in the United States. Books must be distributed in the United States during the period of eligibility to be considered for the list. Revisions of previously published titles will be considered if the revision is to such an extent as to make the book substantially different from the previous edition. Any book removed from nomination at the beginning of the first ALA Midwinter Meeting is eligible for nomination during the following year if it meets the eligibility requirements. Any book nominated and discussed at ALA Midwinter Meeting will be ineligible for nomination during the following year.

Both fiction and nonfiction shall have readable text and format appealing to children and/or teens. Although the list attempts to present a variety of reading tastes and levels, no effort will be made to balance the list according to subject, area of interest, age, or genre. Annotations for the bibliography are written so as to attract the young reader.The American Library Association Rainbow Project prepares an annual annotated bibliography of books displaying commendable literary quality that relate to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning experience and are recommended for young readers from birth through age 18. The Rainbow Project is a joint undertaking of RRT and SRRT (Social Responsibilities Round Table) with with Project membership determined by the committee members and submitted to both RRT and SRRT for vetting with specification that Project members be members of both these round tables and with the expectation of continued monitoring by the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS). Rainbow Project Policies and Procedures will in no way conflict with the RRT Bylaws and the SRRT Bylaws.

Eligibility of Books

Rainbow Project Committee

The Project consists of a jury of nine members, appointed by the Chair to a two-year term which is renewable for a two-year consecutive term. Each term begins at the conclusion of the ALA Midwinter and ends two years later at the conclusion of ALA Midwinter. Following two terms (four years), a one-year hiatus is required before a member is eligible for re-appointment. Reappointment is not automatic; it is based upon participation. The Project will make every attempt to maintain gender parity.

The chair of the Project will serve in this position for one year beginning immediately following the ALA Midwinter Conference. The chair-elect will be selected from the membership of the Project, becoming the chair upon completion of one year of service as chair-elect.

Bibliography Selection Process

All Project jury members will nominate books; all field submissions are to be nominated by a Project jury member. Field submissions may be sent to any Rainbow Project jury member listed on the RRT Contacts page. Jury members shall read the books before nominating them. Nominations will be submitted in the following format: Author. Title. Ilus. by (if applicable). Year. Pp. Publisher, price. (ISBN-13). Grade level.

The person submitting a nomination should carefully check the bibliographic information for accuracy and eligibility. A one- or two-sentence annotation, suitable for publication with the list, is to be included with all nominations. If the primary character(s) is (are) not glbtq, a brief explanation should detail why the title should be considered for the list. These nominations shall be sent electronically to all jury members of the Project and are to be received by midnight on October 31. Field submissions must be provided by September 30 to be considered for nomination.

Recommendations for nomination will not be accepted from the publisher of a proposed book, agents or representatives of the author, or anyone else who may stand to gain directly from the nomination of the book. Jury members of the Rainbow Project may not nominate a book that they have contributed to, edited, or in any other way been affiliated with, or a book coauthored or edited by a member of their immediate family or anyone with whom they currently share a household.

Review copies of each nominated title will be requested from its publisher for each Project member. During the course of the year, Project jury members actively participate in ongoing discussions of books, both those nominated and those being considered for nomination. Project jury members are also expected to read book reviews of nominated books, either by consulting review sources directly available to them or by reading reviews posted or otherwise distributed by Project jury members.

Meetings

All Project meetings are open to persons with guest badges. These observers may speak if recognized by the chair. Before the committee discusses each suggested title, an opportunity will be given to observers to make short comments about the books (two minutes or fewer per observer); the Chair reserves the right to cut short the comments if necessary. Publishers’ representatives are requested to refrain from participating in discussion or asking for comments about their own books.

During the last meeting at ALA Midwinter Conference, the jury will jointly prepare final annotations, verify bibliographic information, and write the introduction for the list.

Voting

Project jury members will nominate titles, discuss nominations, and participate in straw polls electronically prior to the ALA Midwinter Meeting. This nonbinding vote indicates the status of books within six weeks before the ALA Midwinter meeting. The results of this straw poll will be compiled and disseminated to the jury members of the Project within a week.

After the results of the straw poll, a book may be withdrawn by the person who nominated the title. If another Project jury member wishes to keep that title on the list for discussion, that person must indicate this; otherwise the book is dropped from the nomination list.

The final discussion and selection of the bibliography will be conducted at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Decisions will be reached by consensus, meaning that each member accepts the decision. If the group cannot come to consensus, the decision will be made with no more than one person dissenting. For a book to be put on the list, at least five jury members must have read the book and agreed to its inclusion. Consideration for the final list is not based on a certain number of fiction or nonfiction titles, nor is it based on a certain number of titles for different age groups. Only jury members attending the ALA Midwinter meeting and participating in all discussions about the book will be allowed to vote on a specific title. Jury members can vote only on books they have read in their entirety. The top four or five and the top ten books are also selected for purposes of highlighting exceptional titles for publicity. After the final discussion and selection, titles are then annotated by the committee.

Announcement of the Rainbow Project Bibliography

Following its last meeting, the committee will provide the ALA Public Information Office with the final list of selected titles in the form of a press release. The press release will be posted on the Project website and made available to RRT and SRRT for their newsletters and websites, and provided to various sources such as magazines directed toward teens, GLBTQ issues, and library professionals and discussion groups on the Internet. The final bibliography, or a portion of it, will also appear in a spring issue of Booklist.

Requirements/Duties of Rainbow Project Jury Members

Jury members must be members of the American Library Association, the Rainbow Round Table, and the Social Responsibilities Round Table. They must commit to attending the Rainbow Project meetings at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Jury member responsibilities:

Maintain knowledge of current glbtq publishing, actively seeking appropriate books.
Read and critically evaluate current glbtq books.
Submit Rainbow Project nominations of glbtq books through the year.
Participate in jury discussions of glbtq books.
Read books nominated for the Rainbow bibliography.
Communicate book reviews and other pertinent information regarding glbtq books with other jury members.
Follow the rules and procedures of the Rainbow Project and meet the deadlines established by the jury chair and chair-elect.
Perform other duties that the jury chair and chair-elect deem necessary.

Requirements/Duties of the Rainbow Project Assistant

The function of the Assistant includes the following:

maintain electronic sites for the Project;
help with publicity;
and represent the Project in SRRT and/or RRT meetings as necessary.

Requirements/Duties of the Rainbow Project Chair and Chair-elect

The Project Chair and Chair-elect must be members of the American Library Association, the RRT, and the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT). They must commit to attending the Rainbow Project meetings at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

The chair and chair-elect will work together in a collaborative manner. The chair will serve on the RRT Steering Committee.

The chair and chair-elect share the privilege and responsibility of reading, nominating, discussing, and voting for books with the Project jury members as described under Requirements/Duties of the Rainbow Project Jury Members.

In addition they share the following responsibilities as mutually agreed upon:

Select jury members in a way that maintains a balance of geographical regions of the United States, racial and ethnic groups, types of libraries, and gender.
Ensure that the Rainbow Project complies with policies and procedures.
Maintain an accurate database of all nominated titles.
Communicate frequently with jury members regarding nominated books.
Report to OLOS, RRT, and SRRT as needed.
Provide publicity as needed regarding the Project and its bibliographies.
Facilitate Project discussion.
Communicate with publishers regarding the mission of the Project and request preview copies of books for jury members.
Provide the final bibliography to publishers.
Work with RRT and SRRT leadership to establish meeting location and times at ALA conferences.
Coordinate a breakfast at ALA Annual Conference during even years.
Represent the Rainbow Project at the RRT Steering Committee meetings.
Attend to all other business matters and duties as deemed necessary by the Rainbow Project jury.

During the year following service as chair, the past chair will serve as a resource to the new chair. That person may be, but is not required to be, a voting Project member.