Library group takes over Book Awards - Spring program still planned; corporate sponsorship sought
The Minnesota Library Association is the new coordinator of the Minnesota Book Awards, according to MLA Executive Director Barbara Vaughan.
"I think there will be a book awards program next spring. We're going to work with other organizations committed to making this happen," Vaughan said Thursday.
The Book Awards' future was in doubt earlier this week, when the Minnesota Humanities Commission announced it was focusing on early childhood and secondary education programs. A $1 million cut in state aid meant the commission could no longer administer several programs, including the 18-year-old Book Awards, which honor the state's writers, illustrators and publishers.
Vaughan said MLA is in a strong position to coordinate the awards because its 900 members include all major public and private libraries in the state, as well as library workers and supporters.
"We already have the infrastructure to find judges, volunteers and calls for nominated books," said Vaughan, who served on the Humanities Commission's Book Awards advisory committee. "We'll also work closely with Metropolitan Library Service Agency, which serves 103 libraries in the metro area."
Although the Book Awards will be administered through the MLA offices at 1619 Dayton Ave. in St. Paul (which also houses the MELSA staff), Vaughan emphasized: "This is not about us. We are taking the lead in coordinating, but we want to work with all the great organizations that have been involved in the Book Awards over the years."
Funding is the group's first order of business. The Humanities Commission budgeted $100,000 for the awards program, but it might not be possible for the new committee to raise that much before April, when the 2007 awards ceremony was scheduled at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis.
"Money is our biggest challenge, and I'm hoping a corporate sponsor will step forward," Vaughan said. "We might try for $50,000 and look at a way to do things a little differently than the Humanities Commission, maybe hold the awards (ceremony) in a different place and streamline the program while keeping its quality."
