KDL Librarian Elected to Newbery Award Selection Committee

Katie Lawrence, a librarian at the Grandville Branch of Kent District Library, has been elected to the 2022 Newbery Award Selection Committee. The committee members discuss books that have been published during the previous year for kids age 0-14 and vote for the Newbery Medal winner and Honor titles.

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery.

Sixteen people were on the ballot, and eight were elected. Members of ALSC voted March 9 - April 1. Seven additional committee members will be appointed by the ALSC president.

Lawrence enjoyed reading Newbery winners as a child, and serving on the Newbery Committee has been her dream since she attended Dominican University for graduate school nine years ago.

“To be a part of selecting new winners will be a remarkable, life changing experience,” Lawrence said. “I am so excited to have this opportunity to work with an incredible team of librarians and can’t wait to start reading!”

Lawrence was the only Michigander appearing on any of the ALSC award committee ballots this year, and she is the first Kent District Library staff member to serve on the Newbery Committee.