I’ve been appointed to the Book Selection Committee. What do I do now?

As a member of the Book Selection Committee, you will be asked to contribute in a variety of ways to the selection of the Award Master Lists. Here are some of your duties:

• Read books published during the year under consideration.
• Nominate books you find especially worthwhile to be considered for the Master List.
• Read books nominated by other committee members. (You may want to keep brief notes about each book as you read so that you will be able to discuss them later.)
• Attend the Selection Committee meeting on a Saturday in late September. During this meeting members will discuss each title that has been nominated and create the Master List for the next year.

If you want more details, please feel free to Contact Us, and we can put you in contact with a mentor who can help you.

How do I nominate books for the Master List?

Three times during the course of the year, you will have the opportunity to nominate books to be considered for the Master Lists. You send nominations to Sharon Sharpe, who will then compile the results and release lists for Round One, Round Two, and Round Three. During Rounds One and Two, you can nominate as many books as you want. During Round Three, you can only nominate one new title.

(For information on judging a book before you nominate, see Common Questions about Judging.)

The breakdown of Nomination Rounds breaks down like this:
Round One: Nominations due January 15 (many new titles)
Round Two: Nominations due April 15 (many new titles)
Round Three: Nominations due June 15 (only ONE new book)

Things to remember when nominating a book:
• Was the book published during the year under consideration?
• Is the book appropriate for readers in the 3rd to 8th grade?
• Was the book written by someone residing in the US, Canada, or Mexico?

Only the very best titles should be included on any of the three nomination rounds. The Committee’s task is to identify quality rather than quantity. Members need not feel compelled to nominate the maximum number of titles allowed on the list unless each meets the above criteria.

Please send nominations to:

WAW Children's Book Award
Beverley Buller
wawselect@sbcglobal.net

Where do I get books?

Emporia State University’s William Allen White Library has interlibrary loan privileges open to any White Award Committee member. The library collects two copies of each book nominated, as well as two copies of many other books donated by publishers, and places them on Reserve lists that can be accessed online.

http://library.emporia.edu
click on Kellogg Online Catalog
scroll down to Reserves (Instructor’s name)
type in WAW Books
click on Suggested List
OR click on Nominations List

If you want the library to send you any of the Reserve materials through Interlibrary Loan, contact the White Library ILL Office or complete the online form.

How many books do I have to read?

In order for nominated books to be considered for the Master List, they have to be read by at least 60% of the members. In order to make sure that books are not eliminated due to a shortage of readers, we expect Selection Committee members to read all the books on the Nominated list if they can. Members are required to read at least 50% of all nominated titles.

When and Where is the Selection Committee meeting?

The Selection Committee meeting is usually held on the second Saturday in September. All committee members are expected to be present. Those not in attendance cannot vote and their nominations will be removed from consideration (unless someone else has nominated the same title).
The Selection Committee meeting is held in Emporia, KS. It is an all-day affair, and members will be provided with snacks and lunch.