The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals released longlists for the Carnegie Medal (author of a book for children & young people) and Kate Greenaway Medal (illustrator). Winners will each receive £500 (about $700) worth of books to donate to their local library, a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 (about $7,000) Colin Mears Award cash prize. You can find the complete CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway longlists here. Shortlists will be announced March 15 and winners named June 18.
One title from each of the medal shortlists will also be named recipient of the new Amnesty CILIP Honor "for a book that most distinctively illuminates, upholds or celebrates freedoms. The honor aims to increase awareness of how great children's books encourage empathy and broaden horizons."
Judging panel chair Jake Hope commented: "It is so important that young people growing up today have access to and are represented in books that fire their imaginations and open worlds of possibilities. Which is why I am so pleased that we will shortly open a public consultation as part of the ongoing diversity review of the medals which aims to ensure we can be the best champions of equality, participation and inclusion possible."
Last year, the longlists sparked criticism for not including a single black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) writer among the 40 titles. Sunny Singh, co-founder of the Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Color, called the absence of BAME writers from the longlists a "deliberate snub," while Wei Ming Kam, sales and marketing assistant at Oberon Books and co-founder of the BAME in Publishing group, called the lack of diversity "appalling."
CILIP subsequently announced an independent review into how equality, diversity, inclusion and participation can best be championed and embedded into the work of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. Chaired by Margaret Casely-Hayford, the Diversity and Equality Review is taking place throughout the 2018 medals cycle and is currently in consultation phase, which involves an online survey and focus groups. The survey--in development with Coventry University--will be launched by March.