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Carnegie Medal

Carnegie's Passion for Literature

Andrew Carnegie made his fortune by building the steel industry in the United States, and he became one of the most well-known and generous philanthropists of his time. Before his death in 1919, Carnegie founded more than 2800 libraries in the Western world, with a particular emphasis on building libraries in the United Kingdom.He was famously quoted as saying, "if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries."

The Carnegie Medal was established in 1936 in honor of the Scottish-born entrepreneur, and the Medal is awarded annually to the best in children's literature published in the UK during the previous calendar year. The Medal is presented by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), and only books published by UK publishing houses are eligible for nomination. The Carnegie Medal is widely considered to be the British counterpart to the American Newbery Medal, and each year, the winner is presented with a trophy and £500 worth of literature to donate to a library of the author's choice.

Nominees Must Follow Strict Criteria

Even though the Carnegie Medal is awarded to authors of children?s books, the literary standards are no less arduous simply because of the age demographic. The CILIP organization outlines their criteria for considered books, and each piece of fiction should include a well-constructed plot, convincing characters, and successfully applied style. But most of all, winners of the Carnegie Medal are books that stay with the reader long after finishing the last page, and while the content may be challenging for the audience, the readers must leave with a sense of closure and pleasure. In short, these books must be just as compelling and artistic as if they were written for adults.

True to the spirit of distinguished children's and young adult's literature, the Carnegie Medal is not awarded years when the judges feel that no submitted work was suitable for such recognition. As such, the Carnegie Medal was not awarded in 1943, 1945, or 1966.

Notable Winners of the Carnegie Medal

The first winner of the Carnegie Medal was author Arthur Ransome for Pigeon Past, the sixth book in the critically acclaimed Swallows and Amazons series. For many years after it was prohibited for authors to win more than one Carnegie Medal, but since that rule changed, seven authors have gone on to win more than one Medal.Notably, there has only been one author to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Newbery Award in the same year, and that honor went to Neil Gaiman for his work, The Graveyard Book.

To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Carnegie Medal, CILIP decided to award the "Carnegie of Carnegies" Medal, and the ten nominees were chosen from the list of past Carnegie winners. Ultimately, author Philip Pullman won the illustrious award for his book Northern Lights, his well-known novel that had originally won the Carnegie Medal back in 1995.

Carnegie Medal Winners by the Year

2012 Winner Carnegie Medal

Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness

Patrick Ness is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Chaos Walking trilogy. He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children's Book Award. Born in Virg… read more

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Literary Awards

Carnegie Medal Winners by the Year

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