YALSA's MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens

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This award honors a YALSA member for developing an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. Winners receive $500 and an additional $500 for their libraries. Applications for the MAE Award, along with all of YALSA’s grants and awards, are due to the YALSA office by Dec. 1.

The MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust.

Edwards was a well-known and innovative young adult services librarian at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Md., for more than 30 years. Her trust has supported many initiatives from YALSA, including the Alex Awards for adult books with teen appeal and all five rounds of the Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults project.

Criteria

  • The purpose of the reading or literature program must be to bring young adults and literature together in an innovative and impactful way, and to encourage the development of life-long reading habits.
  • The program must model best practices for teen programming, as outlined in YALSA's programming guidelines found at
  • The program must be specifically designed for and targeted at reaching young adults.
  • All or part of the program must have taken place in the twelve months preceding the award deadline date of December 1.
  • The applicant must work directly for or with young adults and be a personal member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
  • Non-winning entries may be resubmitted in subsequent years if the program is current and ongoing and if a new application that updates the documentation is submitted.

Guidelines

  1. All entries must be no later than December 1 of that current year.
  2. All applicants must be current personal members of ALA/YALSA at the time the application is submitted.
  3. Entries should be models of clarity and completeness.
  4. Questions about the award can be directed to yalsa@ala.org. Entries must be .

Application & Deadline

must be no later than December 1 of the current year.

Winners

The MAE Award was known as the Econo-Clad Award until 2000 and the Sagebrush Award from 2001-2008.

2023 - Sheila Michaels

2022 -

2021 -

2020 -

2019 -

2018 -

2017 -

2016 -

2015 -

2014 -

2013 -

2012 -

2011 -

2010 -

2009 -

2008 -

2007 -

2006 -

2005 -

2004 -

2003 -

2002 -

2001 -

2000 - Keith Hayes

1999 - Donna McMillen

1997 - Susan R. Farber