A standing-room-only crowd of enthusiastic librarians and publishers will gather this morning for the “Academy Awards” of children’s literature. Among the accolades that will be bestowed are the Newbery Medal – for the best overall children’s book published – and the Caldecott – for the artist who illustrated the best picture book. The Coretta Scott King and Printz awards will also be handed out.

The American Library Association’s midwinter meeting at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston got under way Thursday and will continue through this Wednesday. These librarians and members of the publishing industry gather to attend some 1,500 meetings and nearly 200 discussion groups, so the conference is hardly restricted to the realm of children’s and young adult literature.

But those there to see to whom the Newbery and Caldecott medals will be awarded have much to celebrate. Unlike the rest of trade publishing, children’s and young adult sales have remained consistently strong. Those who will be paying the most attention, besides publishers, to which titles win awards are school librarians.

According to Barb Fish, a publicist for Harcourt’s children’s books imprint, school librarians rely on such distinctions to justify their purchases for the upcoming year. The imprimatur these awards provide has multiplied in importance since the dawn of the Whole Language movement, which stresses the use of individual books over textbooks in teaching children to read.

So who decides who gets the Newbery and Caldecott awards? Active librarians make up the majority of the Newbery committee; the Caldecott committee, although similarly composed, consists of more former librarians, including Judy E. Zuckerman of the Brooklyn Public Library.

NOTES
Enid Schildkrout, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History, has been named chief curator of the Museum for African Art in Queens. Along with her curatorial duties she will help with planning of the museum’s facility across the East River at Fifth Avenue at 110th Street, which is scheduled to open in 2007. … Phillips de Pury & Co. has appointed former Christie’s specialist Lisa Newlin as the head of photography in New York. … The Akutagawa Award for Fiction, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, has been awarded to Kazushige Abe for his novel, “Grand Finale.” The award was established by the publishing firm Bungei Shinju to commemorate the writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Mr. Abe, 36, had been a candidate for the award three times in the past. … Actors’ Equity Association has announced the winners of its theatrical awards, including a $1,000 honorarium and commemorative plaque. Carman Lacivita, who portrayed several characters in the New York premiere of the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s production “Rose Rage” at The Duke on 42nd Street, will receive Equity’s Bayfield Award. Joanne Camp and Robert Hock, who starred in the Pearl Theater’s production of “The Imaginary Invalid,” will receive Equity’s Callaway Award. … Jagdish Bhagwati, professor at Columbia University and senior fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, has received a Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award from the government of India for “his immense contribution to economic thought and for enhancing the understanding of India through his academic work.” The award comprises a gold medallion and a citation. Mr. Bhagwati’s latest book, “In Defense of Globalization,” was published last year by Oxford University Press. … The three recipients of this year’s Iris Foundation Awards for Outstanding Contributions to the Decorative Arts given by the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture are Evelyn Welch, Jane Nylander, and Mitchell Wolfson Jr. …Ten women artists have received $25,000 grants from the Anonymous Was A Woman Foundation in its ninth annual round of awards. They are Janet Biggs (video installation, Manhattan), Moyra Davey (visual artist/photographer, Manhattan), Liz Deschenes (visual artist/photographer, Brooklyn), Jessica Diamond (visual artist, Bronx), Joy Garnett (painter and media artist, Manhattan), Elizabeth Lyons (sculptor, Rochester), Sarah McEneaney (visual artist/painter, Philadelphia), J. Morgan Puett (transdisciplinary artist, Beach Lake, Pa.), Alison Saar (visual artist/sculptor, Manhattan), and Carmelita Tropicana (performance artist, Manhattan).