Dear ALSC Members,
I hope to see many of you at the 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, January
19–22. For those attending the conference, please also join us for the Youth Media Awards
Ceremony on January 22. At that event, the winners of prestigious ALSC awards, such as the
Batchelder, Caldecott, Geisel, Newbery, and Sibert, will be announced—in addition to the
winners of other awards, such as the Coretta Scott King and the YALSA Award for Excellence in
Nonfiction for Young Adults.
While looking forward to the announcement of the 2024 awards, I am eager to appoint ALSC
members to serve on the 2025 award committees. Throughout October and November, I intend
to make all of these critical appointments. My six-person advisory group of ALSC board
members and members at-large have been providing me with names of prospective award
committee members, and the group members and I have also been reviewing the volunteer
database, with an emphasis on the most recently updated forms.
All of these names are provided to ALSC Program Officer Anne Michaud for vetting. She
checks whether all individuals’ memberships are up to date, that they are currently serving on no
more than three committees across all of ALA per ALA Bylaws, and that they are in compliance
with the ALSC Bylaws regarding the four-year rule:
No individual may serve on either Batchelder Award, Caldecott Award, Geisel Award,
Newbery Award, Sibert Award, Legacy Award or Notable Children’s Books Committees
more often than once every four years. The four year period shall begin from the last year
of the term of service regardless of length of term. This guideline will apply to Batchelder
Award, Caldecott Award, Geisel Award, Newbery Award, Sibert Award, Legacy Award or
Notable Children’s Books Committees only. This guideline will not apply to the selection
of nominees for Chair. (Article VIII)
This means that eligible members who served on 2021 or earlier committees are eligible to serve
on 2025 award committees.
After all of these names have been vetted for eligibility, the advisory group members and I will
use a rubric to rate the candidates. The rubric includes factors such as participation in the Morris
Seminar, commitment to equity and diversity, identification as a member of a traditionally
underrepresented group, experience in evaluating books, and previous award committee
service—with attention to the number of times served for the sake of fairness. After the
candidates have been scored, I will reach out to our selected appointees via email. If you receive
my email requesting your service on an award committee, please respond as soon as possible, so
I can move on to the next person quickly if you are unable to serve.
If you have not yet filled out a volunteer form it is not too late. After you complete the form,
please email me at mcnair.7@osu.edu to share your committee preferences for service. If you
have already submitted a volunteer form, please feel free to send me an email now to share your
preferences. I look forward to hearing from you!
I hope you have been enjoying the rich array of 2023 titles and wondering which ones will be
announced as award winners on January 22 at LibLearnX. See you then!
Jonda C. McNair
Charlotte S. Huck Endowed Professor of Children’s Literature, The Ohio State University
2023–2024 ALSC President
she/her/hers