Thursday 16 July 2026: CILIP, the library and information association, is proud to announce that the Carnegies have been awarded Silver for Best Longstanding Awards Event at the prestigious Awards Awards, part of the Conference & Events Awards.
The accolade recognises the Carnegies’ enduring success as the UK’s longest-running book awards for children and young people, celebrating almost 90 years of championing outstanding writing, illustration, libraries, and reading for pleasure while continuing to evolve for new generations.
The Awards Awards judges described the Carnegies as “a compelling, nationally significant awards programme that continues to evolve, engage young readers, and build an impressive legacy.”
They praised the awards for their “impressive audience expansion and national reach”, recognising how they have grown into “a genuine nationwide movement.” Judges also highlighted the involvement of children and young people through the Carnegie Shadowing scheme, noting that it makes them “active contributors rather than passive observers,” while commending the awards’ librarian-led judging process for bringing “impartiality, expertise and credibility” to the winners.
The judges also recognised the Carnegies’ continued evolution, highlighting initiatives including the independent diversity review, developments to the live ceremony, and the way the awards have grown beyond a single event into a nationwide reading initiative.
Mackenzie Warner, Carnegie Awards Manager at CILIP, said:
“We’re delighted that the Carnegies have received this recognition. To be acknowledged for almost 90 years of inspiring young readers and for continuing to evolve for each new generation is a huge honour for everyone at CILIP.
What makes the Carnegies so special is that they’re about far more than one ceremony. Thousands of children and young people take part every year through schools and libraries, making reading, discussion, and creativity a shared national celebration. Many of today’s Shadowing group leaders – and even nominated authors and illustrators – first discovered the awards as young Shadowers themselves. Seeing those young readers grow into librarians, creators, and champions of children’s books is one of the Carnegies’ greatest legacies, and this recognition belongs to everyone who helps make that possible.”
The recognition follows another successful Carnegies ceremony at London’s Cambridge Theatre in June 2026, bringing together more than 1,000 attendees – children, librarians, authors, illustrators, and publishers – to celebrate the year’s outstanding books in a vibrant celebration of libraries, storytelling, and reading for pleasure.
CILIP extends its sincere thanks to sponsors Sora, Scholastic UK, and ALCS for their continued support of the awards.
CILIP also thanks the teams at ed public relations and Agile Ideas for their invaluable collaboration in delivering the Carnegies.
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For further information on The Carnegies please visit: www.carnegies.co.uk #Carnegies2026 | @CarnegieMedals on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky & TikTok
For media and interview requests, please contact: Kirsten Cozens or Katie Cregg at ed public relations on Kirsten@edpr.co.uk or Katie@edpr.co.uk or 020 7732 4796.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Carnegies
The Carnegies 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 on the shortlists, 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 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, and each region recruits a judge to represent them on the panel of judges. 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 2026, the judging panel includes 14 volunteer judges from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group and Chair of Judges Stella Hine. 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 62,000 K-12 schools and millions of students worldwide, supporting the need for required curriculum titles, class sets and pleasure reading with the largest catalogue 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. To learn more, visit www.discoversora.com/global.
About Scholastic
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 producer of educational and entertaining children’s media 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. Learn more at www.scholastic.co.uk
About 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 130,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £750 million to writers. For more information visit www.alcs.co.uk.
