2024 Cardinal Cup Committee: Seeking Members

Are you a history buff?  Do you enjoy reading new juvenile and young adult literature? Apply to be a member of the 2024 Cardinal Cup Award Committee!  

Applicants must be willing to make the time commitment to read and discuss the books submitted for consideration, as well as attend physical and/or virtual meetings. Complete the application linked below and return it to Hailee Coleman, Cardinal Cup Committee Chair, by October 7, 2023.

The Cardinal Cup honors the most distinguished biography, historical fiction, or American history book for children and young adults published in the previous year. Presented since 1983, the Cardinal Cup Committee’s goal is to promote reading about America’s past; to encourage the quality writing of United States history, biography, and historical fiction for young people, and to recognize authors in these disciplines. Read more and see previous winners here.

The Cardinal Cup Committee selects the winning title. The committee has eight members: a chairperson and vice-chairperson (selected by the previous year’s committee) and six members selected by the current chair and the past chair of the previous year’s Cardinal Cup Committee.  It is the goal of the committee chair to cultivate a committee of diverse perspectives that include representatives of different VLA regions, backgrounds, occupations, and identities. All committee members must be members of VLA. Members may be employed by public libraries, schools of any type, or bookstores; they may also be unemployed or retired.

You may nominate yourself or a colleague for consideration. Persons selected must be willing to commit a large amount of personal time to read and evaluate books; committee members may receive over 200 titles. Members will also have to attend daytime meetings held virtually. The final meeting will be held in person. Persons who serve on the committee should be knowledgeable of literature for young people and have book evaluation experience. Cardinal Cup Committee members are expected to present programs at the annual VLA and, possibly, VAASL conferences, so a supervisor must sign the application, indicating he or she will allow the person to attend the conferences and will assist with the member’s expenses.

2023 Cardinal Cup Award Winner Announced

The Cardinal Cup Committee, previously the Jefferson Cup Committee, is excited to announce their 2023 winner, honor titles, series of note, and overfloweth selections. Our 8-person committee selected these from 189 historical fiction, historical nonfiction, and biography titles that ranged from picture books to young adult.

Winner

The 2023 Cardinal Cup winner is Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves by L.M. Elliott (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers).

We couldn’t be more excited to select a title written by a lifelong Virginian for our first winner under the Cardinal Cup name. L.M. Elliott was previously a Jefferson Cup honor author for her book Under a War-Torn Sky and received an Overfloweth recommendation for the companion title Across a War-Tossed Sea.

Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves is a historical fiction novel set along the Virginia coastline during World War II. 13-year-old Louisa June’s life changes instantly and drastically when the war reaches the American homefront. When Nazi U-boats appear off the once peaceful waters outside the Chesapeake Bay, there are devastating consequences for Louisa June’s family. Can Louisa June navigate her changing world and become the anchor her family needs? Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves is a story of resiliency and friendship, set in an unexpected place in American history. A rich author’s note is full of historical detail that flesh out this eye opening and detailed story even further. This wonderfully evocative story is a must have for historical fiction collections across the country.

Honors

The Cardinal Cup Committee is pleased to announce two honor titles:

Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams by Andrea J. Loney, Illustrated by Keith Mallett (Knopf Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)

• Three Strike Summer by Skyler Schrempp (McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster)

Series of Note

The Cardinal Cup Committee recognizes a series of note. The Committee must read at least two titles from a book series for it to be eligible for this honor.

The Deadliest by Deborah Hopkinson (Scholastic Focus)

Overfloweth

 About Cardinal Cup Award

Established in 1982 and presented since 1983, the Cardinal Cup Committee’s goal is to promote reading about America’s past; to encourage the quality writing of United States history, biography, and historical fiction for young people, and to recognize authors in these disciplines. From 2012-2021 two books were selected: one for geared toward young adult readers and one for young readers. Beginning in 2022, the Committee returned to the original model, honoring the most distinguished biography, historical fiction, or American history book for young people. In 2023, the Committee and award were renamed. The Cardinal Cup Committee’s mission remains the same, with a commitment to celebrating titles that honor the diverse history of the United States.

Intellectual Freedom Committee Statement August 2023

Statement in Regard to Gov. Youngkin’s Removal of LGBTQ Materials from State Website

The Virginia Mercury recently reported that in response to an inquiry from a media outlet in May about “two websites listed on a Virginia Department of Health webpage offering resources for LGBTQ youth, internal agency emails indicate Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration took the entire page down, leaving agency employees who oversaw it bewildered.” 

When agency employees are accorded so little respect that those in power feel free to act behind the scenes to disregard long-approved processes, democracy is threatened. 

In the same Mercury piece, a supervisor and a director confirmed the request did not come from anyone in the program and the director expressed concern “that staff were directed to remove the webpage without engaging with [subject matter experts].”

In addition to the lack of transparency, the continued pattern of disregarding professional staff and restricting access to information for LGBTQ community members amplifies the bigotry of those who insist on censoring access to information and operating in the dark. The Virginia Department of Health has as a stated goal to be a trusted source of public health information for all Virginians. “All Virginians” includes our LGBTQ community, and removing health resources in this manner undermines that trust.

Refusing to clearly explain why these materials were removed without due process of investigation is anti-American. Our First Amendment was written from a belief that free inquiry and open discussion is crucial to a healthy democracy. 

VLA is steadfast in its commitment to the freedom of expression and the equitable access to information for all. We encourage our members to demand transparency and respect for due process from government officials. We encourage our members to contact the governor’s office, their state legislators and the Virginia Department of Health to express concern over these recent developments.

VLA Intellectual Freedom Committee

VLA 2023 Award Winners

The Awards & Recognition Committee of the Virginia Library Association (VLA) has selected winners for the 2023 association awards from a very competitive application pool. Librarians and library project teams from academic, public, and special libraries across the commonwealth are honored for their exemplary contributions to their communities and profession in 2022. All Virginia Library Association award winners will be honored at the Awards Celebration on Sunday evening, October 22, 2023, at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles, Chantilly, Va., in conjunction with the VLA Annual Conference. For more information about this event, see our conference website. For details about each winner and their accomplishments, please view the press releases linked below:

• Advocacy Award: Easter DiGangi, Newport News Public Library, Pearl Bailey Branch; and Melinda McKenzie, Portsmouth Public Library, Churchland Branch
• Donna G. Cote Librarian of the Year: Amanda Jackson, Chesapeake Public Library System
• Friends of the Library Award:Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
• Librarian of Color Forum Award: Quettara Drayton, Sussex Central Middle School
• Outstanding Professional Associates Award: Lesley Perkins, Massanutten Regional Library
• Public Library Innovator Award: Gary Goodson and Atnaf Ameha, both of Fairfax County Public Library
• Trustee Library Award: Carol Turrentine, Augusta County Library
• Up and Comer Award: Rebecca Weimert, Poquoson Public Library
• Virginia Library of the Year Award: Williamsburg Regional Library
• VLA Professional Associates Forum Award: Vanessa Salo
• VLAPAF Supporter of Professional Associates Award: Stephanie Mullins, Massanutten Regional Library