Submit a Book for the Cardinal Cup Award Consideration

Established in 1982, the Cardinal (née Jefferson) Cup Award honors the best books published for children or young adults in the fields of American history, American biography or American historical fiction.

To submit a book, please observe the following:

1.    The committee will only review titles that meet the Cardinal Cup Award criteria.

2.    Email your intentions to the current Virginia Library Association administrator, Vanessa Salo at [email protected]. She will connect you with the Cardinal Cup chairperson or retain your information to pass along for the next award cycle.

3.    The chairperson will send you a mailing roster of all current committee members. Please send each member a copy of your title to read.

4.    With titles in a series, feel free to send a representative sampling from each series. A series can be considered for a award as a whole if two or more titles are received by the committee.

5.    Books must be received by March 31.

6.    Advanced reader copies and digital copies are not accepted for consideration.

7.    The committee awards books published in the previous year. For example, the 2025 Cardinal Cup Award will award a book with a 2024 publication date. The work cannot be an adaptation or a re-release.

Please contact v[email protected] with any additional information or questions you may have.