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The Children's Literature Legacy Award (formerly the ''Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal'' or ''Wilder Award'') is a prize awarded by the
Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association. ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...
(ALSC), a division of the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...
(ALA), to writers or illustrators of children's books published in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
who have, over a period of years, made substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature. The bronze medal prize was originally named after its first winner, twentieth-century American author
Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...
, before being renamed in 2018. Originally, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal was awarded every five years, awarding six prizes between 1955 and 1980. From 1980 to 2001 it was awarded every three years, awarding seven prizes. From 2001 to 2015 it was awarded every two years. It is now awarded annually. The most recent author to receive the award was
Pam Muñoz Ryan Pam Muñoz Ryan (born December 25, 1951) is an American writer for children and young adults, particularly in the multicultural genre. Biography Muñoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California. She is half Mexican with Basque, Italian, and Okla ...
in 2024.


Criteria

* The medal may be awarded to an author or illustrator including co-authors or co-illustrators, and persons who both write and illustrate. The person may be nominated posthumously. * Some portion of the nominee's active career in books for children must have occurred in the twenty-five years prior to nomination. * Citizenship or residence of the potential nominee is not to be considered. * The nominee's work must be published in the United States but this does not mean that the first publication had to be in the United States. Books by the nominee that have been published in the United States are to be considered in the nomination process. * Some of the books by the potential nominee must have been available to children for at least ten years. * The books, by their nature or number, occupy an important place in literature for American children, and children have read the books, and the books continue to be requested and read by children. * The committee is to direct its attention only to the part of the nominee's total work that is books for children (up to and including age fourteen).


Renaming

In February 2018, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), the division of ALA that administers the award, announced a taskforce which re-examined the naming of the award and included representation from the American Indian Library Association (AILA). The task force was convened because of criticism of Wilder's depictions of Native and African Americans. A recommendation to rename the award was made on June 23, 2018. The ALSC board found Wilder's body of work "includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC's core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness." The award's name was officially changed to the "Children's Literature Legacy Award."


Recipients


See also

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List of ALA awards The American Library Association (ALA) is a professional society for librarians and some other information service providers. Its awards program includes "Books, Print & Media Awards"; professional recognition within the library sciences; and scho ...
*
Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...
*
Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
*
Margaret Edwards Award The Margaret A. Edwards Award is an American Library Association (ALA) literary award that annually recognizes an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". It is named aft ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Children's Literature Legacy Award American children's literary awards American Library Association awards Awards established in 1954 Little House series English-language literary awards