RI Children's Book Award

Learn more about the RI Children's Book Award winners and nominees at: https://olis.ri.gov/programs-and-support/reading-programs/rhode-island-childrens-book-award

The Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) in partnership with the RI Center for the Book (RICfB) is offering book sets of the 2024 RI Children Book Award nominees to school libraries planning to participate in voting for the 2024 award in February-March. Due to the limited number of book sets available, OLIS and RICfB man not be able to fulfill all requests and priority will be given to school libraries that demonstrate need.

Book sets are only available to school libraries, and the application may only be submitted by a school librarian. If your school does not have a librarian and you wish to apply on behalf of your school, please contact Danielle Margarida. If your library received a set of 2023 RICBA nominees and your school did not participate in 2023 voting you are not eligible to apply for a 2024 book set.

School libraries that accept and receive a book set are required to conduct RICBA voting at their school February - March 2024 and must submit the voting results to OLIS by the March voting deadline. Failure to participate in voting will exclude a school library from receiving a book set in future years.

Please submit your application online by Monday, September 11. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by September 18. Book sets will be shipped to schools late September/early October.

Please contact Danielle Margarida if you have any questions.

Check out the RICBA LibGuide at https://olis-ri.libguides.com/ricba. Beginning with the 2022 nominees, all resources will be on the RI Children's Book Award LibGuide. The LibGuide includes materials curated and developed by the RICBA committee and additional resources submitted by librarians and teachers. Author video messages will also now be included on the LibGuide. The RICBA LibGuide is set to community sharing so please reuse content for your own guide!

Annually children in grades 3 to 5 have the opportunity to vote on their favorite book from a ballot of 20 selections nominated for the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award by a panel of librarians, reading specialists and teachers. Children vote as part of their class or with their local public library.

The award began in 1990 as a joint project of the Rhode Island State Council of the International Reading Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, and the Rhode Island Educational Media Association, under the coordination of the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services. Today, the Rhode Island Children's Book Award is co-sponsored by the School Librarians of Rhode Island (SLRI), the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA), and the Rhode Island Center for the Book at the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICFB), and is advised by the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS).Three public youth services librarians, three members of SLRI, and three members of RICFB are each chosen to each serve three year terms on the committee.

20 nominees are announced each spring. Public libraries, school libraries, and classrooms promote the award and share the nominees throughout the year. Voting takes place the following February and the winner is announced in March. Children in grades 3-5 who have read at least 3 books from the list of 20 nominees are eligible to vote. Voting takes place at participating schools and public libraries throughout the state.

The RI Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee has created a form for reporting material challenges and other forms of censorship taking place in Rhode Island. This will allow the committee to track the censorship happening in RI to be better informed on how to help. The committee will also report the data to ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom if the respondent chooses, so those facing book bans and other censorship attempts can report to the state and national library organization using only one form. The Intellectual Freedom Committee encourages any librarian, library staff member, or educator to report any incident of attempted censorship happening at your institution, no matter how small, using this new form. The link to the form can be found in the Intellectual Freedom Committee's webpage, linked below. Please share this information with your colleagues.

https://rilibraries.org/intellectual-freedom

The RI Library Association Intellectual Freedom committee is responsible for maintaining an awareness of intellectual freedom among library staff and trustees and for fostering an awareness of intellectual freedom among local officials and citizens of Rhode Island.

Learn more about the committee and find resources at https://rilibraries.org/intellectual-freedom. Questions intellectual freedom and related issues may be directed to ifcommittee@rilibraries.org.

Please visit the RICBA web pages, Facebook page, or contact Danielle Margarida for more information.

Email: danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov
Website: http://www.olis.ri.gov/youth/ricba/index.php
Location: RI Office of Library and Information Services, Providence, RI, United States
Phone: 401-574-9309
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rhode-Island-Childrens-Book-Award-1353731481320472/?ref=page_internal