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CHICAGO – The Kane County Juvenile Justice Center (Illinois), Main Street Academy (North Carolina) and the NIA Community Services Network (New York) have been selected to receive books as part of the 2019 program.

Awarded each spring by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee, the grant program donates books originally submitted for consideration for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards to organizations demonstrating need and potential benefit from receiving the collection. All winners will receive copies of titles submitted to the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards, including a full set of the year’s winner and honor books.

The Kane County Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) is a regional facility located outside of Chicago. The JJC has an open-access library for detainees operated by volunteers from the Kane County Law Library & Self Help Legal Center, the St. Charles Public Library, the Kane County Regional Office of Education, retired educators and JJC youth counselors. The grant will help volunteers continue to inspire a passion for reading in the community. Books received will strengthen library collections, to which detainees have uncensored access.

Main Street Academy (MSA) is an alternative school in North Carolina serving children in grades six through 12. The MSA media center works to nurture a culture of learning and reading. The library is open daily. Materials received from the grant will help enrich the media center’s collection, and staff will work to connect readers with new materials through creative techniques including book talks, “face-out” displays and reading clubs.

The NIA Community Services Network is a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, New York dedicated to “building strong children, strong families, and strong communities.” NIA Community Services Network is receiving its grant in partnership with PS 627 Brighter Choice Community School for an after-school program they run collaboratively. Students’ educational and recreational reading needs are supported through read-alouds, extension activities, literature circles, independent reading and more; staff work to select books reflecting the authenticity of all students’ experiences. The organization will make the newly acquired books available to students throughout the school day as well.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience through literature and the graphic arts. Since 1969, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The awards are presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Community of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Community includes the Book Award Jury (which also awards the John Steptoe New Talent Award), the Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award Jury, and standing committees focusing on topics including Archives and History, Nominating, Programs, Public Relations/Marketing, Publications, and Technology.

Members of the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Grant Standing Committee are: Chair Elisa Gall, Deerfield (Illinois) Public Library; Dr. Regina Carter, University of Virginia Library; Jina DuVernay, Alabama State University; Shari Fesko, Southfield (Michigan) Public Library; Lauren Kratz, Los Angeles Public Library; Marguerite Parks, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh ; Laura Simeon, Kirkus Reviews; and Bina Williams, Bridgeport (Connecticut) Public Library.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019. To learn more about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and this special anniversary, please visit .

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