The Coretta Scott King Award

When & Why Created?
The CSK Award was established in the late 1960’s to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as to honor Coretta Scott King and her continuing effort for peace and work towards civil rights issues. The CSK award was first presented to Lillie Patterson in 1970 by the New Jersey Library Association. In 1979 a separate award was created for illustrators. In 1982 the American Library Association recognized the award as an association award.

Rationale for award:
The award was created to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience through literature and the graphic arts, including biographical, historical and social history treatments by African American authors and illustrators.

Selection Committee:
The award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Committee of the ALA’s Ethnic Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The CSK Task Force appoints and nominates an award jury of seven committee members who make the final decision of the award recipients. It is very easy to become a member of EMIERT by simply filling out an online application and mailing in a membership fee.

Sponsors:
The award consists of a plaque and a donation of $1000 granted by Johnson Publications for the author’s award and Book Wholesalers for the illustrator’s award. In addition to this a set of encyclopedias is donated to the author by Encyclopedia Britannica and to the illustrator by WorldBook Encyclopedias.

Selection Criteria:
- Must portray some aspect of the African American experience, past, present, or future.
- Must be an original work, written and/or illustrated by an African American. The award may be granted to a text with only one African American author or illustrator.
- Must be published in the year before the presentation of the award.
- Must have a clear plot and well-drawn characters portraying growth and development.
- The writing style must be consistent, suitable to the intended age, and accurate.
- The title should encourage the reader to develop attitudes and behaviors pertaining to a good citizen.
- The illustrations must meet qualitative standards, must relate to the text and enlarge on the elements of the story, should provide an appreciation of beauty, and it should awaken and strengthen the imagination of the reader.
- Must fall under one of the following categories:
o Preschool-4th grade
o 5th – 8th grade
o 9th – 12th grade

Websites:
There is an official website for the award which can be accessed through the official American Library Association website; additional award information can be found at the official website for African American Literature Book Club.
- www.ala.org
- www.aalbc.com

Seal:
The symbol represents Dr. King’s teachings and doctrines, including a circle for the continuity of movement from one idea to another. Also portrayed is an image of a black child reading a book below five religious symbols that each represents nonsectarianism. The pyramid stands for strength, but also Atlanta University where the award was headquartered when the seal was designed. Atop the pyramid is a dove representing peace as well as a ray of sun that shines toward peace and brotherhood.
The bronze and black seal denotes an actual award winner, the new pewter and black seal denotes and honor book.