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CHICAGO -- A new committee is getting a head start on selecting the prestigious 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, awards that reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. The new committee has been appointed earlier than in previous years to accommodate a calendar shift in the awards schedule.

The calendar for the awards will change in 2016 to the shortlist announcement in October (for books published during that calendar year) and winner announcements in January at ¾«¶«´«Ã½2016 Midwinter Meeting. The schedule to date has been April (shortlist) and June (winners) for books published in the previous year. The celebratory event will continue to be held at ¾«¶«´«Ã½Annual Conference each June, including presentations by the two winners and a featured speaker.

Nancy Pearl, who served as chair of the selection committee for the first three years of the award, has agreed to return to chair the 2016 committee to help with the transition, when the work of 2015 and 2016 committees overlaps. Other confirmed members of the 2016 committee include: William Kelly, branch manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Beachwood, Ohio; Danise G. Hoover, associate librarian for public services, Hunter College Library, New York; A. Issac Pulver, director, Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Springs, New York; David Wright, Booklist columnist and reviewer, and readers’ services librarian, Seattle Public Library; and Booklist editors Donna Seaman and Joanne Wilkinson. The American Booksellers Association representative will be confirmed soon.

The 2015 committee includes Booklist’s Adult Books Editor Brad Hooper (chair), two Booklist editors—Donna Seaman, senior editor, adult books, and Keir Graff, editor, Booklist Online—and three past-chairs of the RUSA CODES Notable Books Council: Kathleen de la Peña McCook, distinguished university professor of librarianship, University of South Florida, School of Information; Elizabeth Olesh, director, Baldwin Public Library, Baldwin, New York; and Katharine J. Phenix, adult services librarian, Rangeview Library District (Anythink Libraries), Thornton, Colorado. Betsy Burton, owner of The King's English in Salt Lake City, Utah, and vice president of the American Booksellers Association, represents independent booksellers on the committee, reflecting the impact and influence of the awards on general readers beyond the library.

The 2015 longlist will be announced in early February, followed by the six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—in April. The two winning titles will be revealed at a celebratory event at ¾«¶«´«Ã½Annual Conference in June in San Francisco. are available at the when you register for the conference or may be added later.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals were established in 2012 by the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ and Carnegie Corporation of New York to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books written for adult readers and published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are the first single-book awards for adult titles given by ¾«¶«´«Ã½and are cosponsored and administered by and .

For more information and to see past longlists, shortlists, and winners, visit .

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