Editing Newbery Medal (section)

==History==
[[File:Frederic G. Melcher.jpg|alt=Grainy black and white picture of Melcher.|thumb|[[Frederic G. Melcher]] first proposed the idea for the Newbery Award.|left]]

The Newbery Medal was established on June 22, 1921, at the annual conference of the [[American Library Association]] (ALA).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/aboutnewbery/aboutnewbery|title=The John Newbery Medal|date=November 30, 1999|website=Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106145628/http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/aboutnewbery/aboutnewbery|archive-date=November 6, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=December 31, 2018}}</ref> Proposed by ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' editor [[Frederic G. Melcher]], the proposal was well received by the children's librarians present and then approved by the ALA Executive Board.<ref name="history" /> The award was administered by the ALA from the start, but Melcher provided funds that paid for the design and production of the medal.<ref name="manual" />{{Rp|59}} The Newbery Medal was inaugurated in 1922, considering books published in 1921.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Newbery and Caldecott awards : A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books|date=2008|publisher=American Library Association|others=Association for Library Service to Children.|isbn=9781441619211|edition=2008|location=Chicago|oclc=435528356}}</ref>{{rp|1}}{{Efn|In retrospect it is officially dated 1922 and that convention is followed here.}} According to ''The Newbery and Caldecott Awards'' Melcher and the ALA Board agreed to establish the award for several reasons that related to children's librarians. They wanted to encourage quality, creative children's books and to demonstrate to the public that children's books deserve recognition and praise.<ref name="newb" />{{rp|1}} In 1932 the committee felt it was important to encourage new writers in the field, so a rule was made that an author would win a second Newbery only if the vote was unanimous. The rule was in place until 1958.<ref name="newb" />{{Rp|2}} [[Joseph Krumgold]] became the first winner of a second Newbery in 1960. Another change, in 1963, made it clear that joint authors of a book were eligible for the award.<ref name="newb" />{{Rp|2}} Several more revisions and clarifications were added in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="newb" />{{rp|2–3}} Significantly in 1971, the term ''Newbery Honor'' was introduced. Runners-up had been identified annually from the start, with a few exceptions only during the 1920s; all those runners-up were named Newbery Honor Books retroactively.<ref name="newb" />{{Rp|2}}<ref name="history" />

=== Medal ===

The physical medal was designed by [[Rene Paul Chambellan]] and depicts an author giving his work (a book) to a boy and a girl to read on one side and on the other side the inscription, "For the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".<ref name="newb" />{{rp|3, 8}} The bronze medal retains the name "Children's Librarians' Section", the original group responsible for awarding the medal, despite the sponsoring committee having changed names four times and now including both school and public librarians.<ref name="newb" />{{Rp|3}} Each winning author gets their own copy of the medal with their name engraved on it.<ref name=":2" /> Currently the [[Association for Library Service to Children]] (ALSC) is responsible for the award.<ref name="home" />

=== Committee ===
[[File:John Newbery (1713-1767).jpg|alt=An 18th century engraving showing Newbery in profile looking to the left.|thumb|John Newbery, called "The Father of [[Children's Literature]]", was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market.<ref>Matthew O Grenby (2013). "Little Goody Two-Shoes and Other Stories: Originally Published by John Newbery". p. 7. Palgrave Macmillan</ref>]]

As Barbara Elleman explained in ''The Newbery and Caldecott Awards'', the original Newbery was based on votes by a selected jury of Children's Librarian Section officers. Books were first nominated by any librarian, then the jury voted for one favorite. [[Hendrik Willem van Loon|Hendrik van Loon's]] non-fiction history book ''[[The Story of Mankind]]'' won with 163 votes out of 212.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=The Newbery and Caldecott awards : a guide to the medal and honor books|date=2007|publisher=American Library Association|others=Association for Library Service to Children.|isbn=978-0-8389-3567-5|edition=2007|location=Chicago|oclc=135585274}}</ref>{{rp|11}} In 1924 the process was changed, and instead of using popular vote it was decided that a special award committee would be formed to select the winner.  The award committee was made up of the Children's Librarian Section executive board, their book evaluation committee and three members at large. In 1929 it was changed again to the four officers, the chairs of the standing committees and the ex-president. Nominations were still taken from members at large.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|13}}

In 1937 the American Library Association added the [[Caldecott Award]], for "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States".<ref name="caldecott" /> That year an award committee selected the Medal and Honor books for both awards.<ref name="manual" />{{rp|7}} In 1978 the rules were changed and two committees were formed of fifteen people each, one for each award. A new committee is formed every year, with "eight elected, six appointed, and one appointed Chair".<ref name="newb" />{{rp|7}}
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.