William C. Morris Debut YA Award Committee Description

Type: Standing

Date of Establishment: January 2008

Date of Completion: Continuing

Membership: 9 and an administrative assistant, if requested by the chair.

Qualifications: YALSA members who must be able to attend both the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference of ALA.

Term of Office: one year commencing Feb.1st and ending Jan. 31of the following year.

Function: To annually select and annotate from the previous year's publications a short list of five of the best young adult books written by a first time author, then to select one winner from among the five.

Procedures: See Policies and Procedures

History: After study and discussion by the First-time YA Author Award Task Force, the William C. Morris Debut YA Award was approved by ALA at Annual Conference 2007. The first award was given in 2009.

Updated Oct. 2011