Ramona Caponegro, PhD, Joi Mahand, and Cristina Castor have been selected by the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, to serve on special committees dedicated to children’s literature. Each committee looks at the newest children’s books published the preceding year to award with a unique honor they can display on their cover.
“The Newbery Award has played an essential role in shaping children’s literature in the United States and beyond” said Dr. Caponegro, “I can hardly believe that I’ll be part of helping to continue its legacy, and I can’t wait to select and celebrate the books we honor with gold and silver Newbery seals.”
Dr. Caponegro will be the chair of the 2026 John Newbery Award Committee, one of the oldest and most prestigious book awards in the US. The committee selects which books will receive the John Newbery Medal or the John Newbery Seal, well known as a gold or silver-colored sticker on a book cover. Previous winners of the John Newbery Medal include Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, New Kid by Jerry Craft and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
“I am honored and excited to serve on the Siebert Award Committee” said Mahand, “As a former Teen Librarian, youth literature is an area close to my heart and having the opportunity to contribute and collaborate with the other committee members to select the best of the best in Children’s nonfiction is such an amazing opportunity.”
Mahand will be a member of the 2026 Siebert Award Committee for excellence in children’s nonfiction in the US, such as books about important real-life figures, memoirs or books about wildlife. Like the Newbery award, the Siebert Award appears as a gold medal on the book’s cover. Previous winners of the Siebert Award include Fry bread: a Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, Honeybee by Candance Fleming and The Mona Lisa vanishes: a legendary painter, a shocking heist, and the birth of a global celebrity by Nicholas Day.
“I feel very honored to be a part of the 2026 Batchelder Award Committee!” stated Castor, “Translated children’s books introduce readers to various cultures, languages, and different perspectives through intercultural understanding. Growing up in the Philippines, I grew up reading a lot of translated books from Europe, and it made me interested in learning about different countries around the world. To this day, I love reading translated books and furthering my knowledge of the world.”
Castor will be part of the 2026 Batchelder Award committee for children’s book translation that awards books originally published in another language and translated to English in the US. The Batchelder Award appears as a gold oval sticker on a book’s cover. Last year, Houses with a Story by Seiji Yoshida won, a book originally published in Japanese. The story explores a series of houses with unique owners and allows readers to wander shadowy halls, peek into closets and glimpse the lives of the homes’ owners.
“Children’s books are an integral way that adults pass on the stories and ideas we think are important for future generations” said Dr. Caponegro. “The stories and shared reading experiences connect us and provide a foundation that children take with them into adulthood”
ALSC is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library services targeted towards children. It supplies research about unique programming and practices, education, and community for any librarian who works with children. Along with the Newbery, Siebert, and Batchelder awards, they also provide various other awards for varying genres and styles, lists of recommended recently published books, videos, and software for children, and scholarships.
If you would like to know more about ALSC’s various book awards or more about the organization, visit their homepage.