Monday 2 November 2026: CILIP, the UK’s library and information association, has announced the nominations for the 2027 Carnegies, launching the 90th anniversary celebrations of the UK’s longest-running and best-loved book awards for children and young people.
125 nominations have been made for the 2027 Medals. 62 books are in contention for the Carnegie Medal for Writing, which is awarded to a book written in English for children and young people that sparks an outstanding reading experience, and 63 books for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, which celebrates an outstanding reading experience through illustration. This includes four titles that have received nominations in both Medal categories.
The 90th anniversary celebrations will culminate in a special awards ceremony on Tuesday 22 June 2027, hosted by acclaimed author and current Waterstones Children’s Laureate Patrice Lawrence MBE. An award-winning writer and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Patrice has previously been both shortlisted and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing. The 2027 ceremony will be held live and streamed at the Cambridge Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi award-winning Matilda The Musical.
The full lists of nominated titles can be viewed here:
The Carnegies are organised by CILIP and are uniquely judged by librarians. CILIP accepted nominations for the 2027 Carnegies from its members, as well as nine external bodies. CILIP invited nominations that met the criteria for the Medals and reflected the spirit of the Awards mission: To champion librarians to inspire and empower the next generation to create a better world through books and reading.
What happens next?
Each nominated book is read by all 13 members of the 2027 judging panel, librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group (YLG) who volunteer their time and expertise. From these nominations, the judges will determine the longlists, shortlists, and ultimately the 2027 Medal winners, based on the official criteria for Writing and Illustration.
As the Carnegies celebrate 90 years of championing exceptional children’s books, the 2027 awards will spotlight world-class writing and illustration for children and young people across ages and interests, from both new and established talent.
Get involved
Children and young people will once again take on the role of judges through the Carnegie Shadowing Scheme – a reading-for-pleasure initiative that brings the Carnegie books to life in schools and libraries across the UK and overseas. Shadowing groups read, review and creatively engage with the titles before voting for their favourites, with winners announced at the ceremony in June 2027.
Following its introduction in 2026, longlist shadowing will continue alongside the established shortlist shadowing programme, offering age guidance, tailored resources and flexible ways for schools and libraries to take part with readers of different ages and interests.
Shadowing registration for 2027 is nowopen. Group leaders can sign up to receive a free publicity pack when the shortlists are announced in March.
Scholastic pre-orders open today, offering discounts on longlist and shortlist book packs for schools and libraries. Packs can be pre-ordered via the Scholastic website. Packs will be shipped to arrive on the day of longlist announcement and next day for shortlist announcement.
While waiting for shadowing to begin, groups can register withSora, our digital reading partner, to access the 2026 shortlisted books for free, and enjoy free access to the 2027 shortlists once announced.
As the Carnegies mark their 90th anniversary, the 2027 awards will celebrate nine decades of outstanding children’s literature, the expertise of librarians, and the transformative power of reading. It starts with a spark.
The Carnegies are sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS), Sora, and Scholastic. If you are interested in partnering with CILIP on the 2027 Carnegies, please email carnegies.coordinator@cilip.org.uk.
KEY DATES FOR THE CARNEGIES 2027:
Tuesday 23 February 2027: Longlists announced
Wednesday 17 March 2027: Shortlists announced
Tuesday 22 June 2027: CarnegieMedal Winners announced
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For further information on the Carnegies 2027 please visit:www.carnegies.co.uk
For media and interview requests, please contact: Katie Cregg at ed public relations on katie@edpr.co.uk or 020 7732 4796.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Carnegies
The Carnegies, now in their 90th year, celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively and are unique in being judged solely by librarians.
The Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded annually to a children’s book author whose writing creates an outstanding reading experience. It was established in 1936 in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (previously known as the Kate Greenaway Medal), established in 1955, is awarded annually to a children’s book illustrator whose artwork creates an outstanding reading experience.
Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and overseas get involved in the Awards, with children and young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process. They read, discuss and review the books, get involved in reading related activities in groups, and vote for their favourite books to win the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medals for Writing and Illustration.
About CILIP, the library and information association
The Carnegies are managed by CILIP, the library and information association. The Medals are awarded annually by CILIP and the Youth Libraries Group (YLG) with longlists announced in February, shortlists in March and the winners announced at a ceremony in June.
CILIP is the leading voice for the information, knowledge management and library profession. Our goal is to put information and library skills and professional values at the heart of a democratic, equal and prosperous society.
CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. The YLG is a special interest group of CILIP who work to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services.
YLG has 12 regional committees covering all of the UK, each represented by a Carnegies judge. Each judge serves a two-year term and each year the panel is a unique mix of new and experienced judges led by the Chair of Judges. Following the independent diversity review of the Awards, CILIP introduced a co-opting procedure so that if this recruitment process does not result in a sufficiently diverse and representative judging panel, up to two judges will be co-opted to join the panel.
In 2027, the judging panel includes 12 volunteer judges from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group and Chair of Judges Alison King. Find out more about this year’s judges here.
About Sora
Named one of Time’s Best Inventions, the Sora student reading app provides every student with access to the right books. Sora is used by 60,000 K–12 schools and millions of students worldwide, supporting the need for required curriculum titles, class sets, and pleasure reading with the largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, and other content. Parent company OverDrive, which also provides digital content to public and academic libraries through the Libby reading app and Kanopy streaming platform, was founded in 1986 and is based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
For 100 years, Scholastic Corporation has been encouraging the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with literacy. Having earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families, Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of literacy curriculum, professional services, and classroom magazines, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates and distributes bestselling books and e-books, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy, both in school and at home. With 15 international operations and exports to 165 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online.
About Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)
ALCS is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 125,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £750 million to writers.
About Patrice Lawrence, Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2026-2028)
Patrice Lawrence is the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2026-2028) – the foremost representative of children’s literature, which is awarded biannually to a renowned writer or illustrator in recognition of exceptional talent. Managed by BookTrust – the UK’s largest children’s reading charity – and sponsored by Waterstones, this prestigious role celebrates creativity and storytelling, promotes the vital importance of reading and children’s literature, and champions the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime enriched with books and stories.
Patrice Lawrence is an award-winning writer. Her debut YA novel, Orangeboy (Hachette), won the Bookseller YA Prize and the Waterstones Prize for Older Children’s Fiction and was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award.
Her subsequent novels have been much acclaimed and frequent visitors to prize lists including the Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize and the YA Book Prize. Needle (Barrington Stoke) was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing and winner of the 2023 Little Rebels Award. Her most recent book, People Like Stars (Scholastic) was shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards.
Patrice writes for children of all ages and her work often centres on the experiences of young people today, encompassing inclusivity, representing diverse family structures and spans various genres.
In 2021 Patrice was awarded an MBE for Services to Literature and in 2023 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Patrice was born in Brighton, raised in an Italian-Trinidadian family in mid-Sussex, and now lives on the South Coast.
