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At the end of January, the American Library Association (ALA) announced it annual children’s and young adult book awards. The oldest of these awards are the John Newbery Medal (est.1922) and the Randolph Caldecott Medal (est.1937). For decades, however, an African American had received neither honor; this would not happen until the mid-1970s.

To correct this lack of recognition of the contributions and achievements of African American authors, librarians Glyndon Flynt Greer and Mabel McKissick along with publisher John M. Carroll initiated the idea of a new award at the 1969 ALA conference. The award was named to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Coretta Scott King, “for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.” It is given annually to outstanding African American authors who “demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values."

The first Coretta Scott King Award was presented in 1970 to Lillie Patterson, for her work Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace. In 1974 the award was expanded to honor illustrators as well as authors. This was also the year the Coretta Scott King Book Award seal was created by world-renowned artist and professor at Spelman College, Lev Mills. The seal design, which you can read more about here, represents the ideals and commitments of the Kings that the book awards seeks to honor. The Loras Library Pre-K Collection contains over fifty of the Coretta Scott King Award winners and honors, many of which are currently display by the first-floor elevator.

In 2010 the Coretta Scott King Awards were expanded again to include the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, named to honor also beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. Hamilton, it should be noted, was the first African American to win the Newbery Medal. The 2022 winner of Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award is Nikki Grimes and you can see a selection of her books available in the Loras College Library here.

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Native American Heritage Month 2024

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Democracy 2024

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Raptor Awareness Month 2024

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The Coretta Scott King Awards: Honoring African American Culture and Universal Human Values

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