RI Children's Book Award

Learn more about the RI Children's Book Award at https://olis.ri.gov/youth/ricba/

Ever wonder what goes into creating a RICBA nominee list? Looking for a professional development opportunity that puts you front and center with the newest and best books for children?

Join the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award committee!

The Rhode Island Children's Book Award committee is now seeking:

• 1 public youth services librarian to serve a 3 year term, 2023-2026
• 1 school librarian to serve a 3 year term, 2023-2026
• 1 teacher to serve a 3 year term, 2023-2026

Please complete this application by Monday, June 12. Applicants will be notified at the end of June regarding their application status for the term beginning in September 2023 and ending in June 2026. Please feel free to share this application with anyone you think may be interested.

About Serving on the Rhode Island Children's Book Award CommitteeEach committee member serves a 3 year term and acts as either the Chair, Book Chair or Secretary during the second year of their term. The committee meets monthly from September through March to discuss current children's literature and make nominations. Committee members typically read 10-12 children's books per month before deciding on the final list of 20 nominees in March. Committee membership requires a significant time commitment that includes 2.5 hours a month for meetings, and approximately 30 hours a month for reading. Committee members also participate (on a voluntary basis) in events such as the Kids Reading Across RI kickoff (May), the RI Festival of Children's Books and Authors (October), and various professional conferences. If you would like to use your committee participation for professional development, the Office of Library and Information Services can issue a letter confirming your PD time.

Committee Meetings and Communication
The committee meets monthly September - June. Most committee meetings will be held via Zoom on the third Thursday of the month from 6pm-7pm. The September and March meetings will be held in person. Committee members may also meet with their small reading group virtually throughout the month. Between meetings committee members communicate and work collaboratively through email and Google Drive.

On Saturday, May 13 join the RI Children's Book Award committee at the Kids Reading Across RI Kickoff. The RICBA committee will have a fun activity and some swag to share. The kickoff event is 2pm-4pm at the RI State House and will celebrate Dan Santat, author of this year's KRARI book The Aquanaut. Each family will receive a free copy of The Aquanaut that they can have signed by the author and enjoy hands-on activities with RI public libraries and organizations.

If you are attending this month's RI Library Association Conference, be sure to check out "Rhode Island Children's Book Award 2024 Reveal. Book Talk with the RICBA Committee!" on Thursday, May 25 from 8:45am - 9:45am. Meet the committee, learn about the 2024 list, and find out how to become a 2023-2026 committee member.

Have you seen the new 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 are also now included on the LibGuide. The RICBA LibGuide is set to community sharing so please reuse content for your own guide!

The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Committee, composed of Rhode Island teachers, school librarians, and public librarians, works annually to create a diverse list of nominated books using specific criteria. The committee is intentional in seeking books that affirm marginalized groups and champions stories and characters that reflect the lived experiences of Rhode Island youth as well as the larger world. The committee aims to provide an annual list of nominees that maintains diversity in race, gender, sexuality, family makeup, socioeconomic status, and ability. Nominee lists are thoughtfully curated with an anti-racist lens, to allow all youth to be seen and their voices actively heard. The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Committee believes representation matters and strives to create mirrors, windows and prisms for all children.

A growing list of resources for addressing book challenges can be found on the RICBA LibGuide at https://olis-ri.libguides.com/ricba/challenges.

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

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 (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.

Please visit the RICBA web pages, Facebook page, LibGuide 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