In order to support the various degrees in Education offered at Texas A&M University - Central Texas, the library has a growing library collection of Children's and Young Adult books. These books are selected from Texas Library Association lists of notable books, from nationally recognized book awards of the American Library Association and from other recognized sources.
The Texas Bluebonnet Award Program: This Texas Library Association program includes books for children in third through sixth grade. Each year a new list of twenty books is released at the Texas Book Festival. They may be fiction or nonfiction. The author must be a living U.S. citizen and the book must have been published in the United States within three years prior to its release date.
The Texas Lone Star Program: This Texas Library Association list consists of 20 titles and is for students in grades six through eight. The titles are selected to encourage students to read a variety of current books. The selected books must have been published within two years prior to the release of the list. Since the students in this age range have such a wide variety of interests and abilities, titles on this list may also show up in the Texas Bluebonnet list or in the recommended list for high school students.
Randolph Caldecott Medal: This American Library Association award is given each year to "the artist of the most distinguished American picture books for children". There can be several "honor" books but only one winner. Eligible books must be published in the United States during the preceding year.
John Newbery Medal: This award is given by the American Library Association each year to "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". Like the Caldecott Medal, there can be several "honor" books but only one winner. Established in 1922, this award is the oldest children's book award.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards: This program awards an author and an illustrator each year. The awards, from the American Library Association, are for "outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. There is one winner each for author and illustrator, but there may be several "honor" books.
State-Adopted Textbooks: Another part of the Library collection that supports the Education curriculum at A&M Central Texas is the State-Adopted Textbooks for grades K-12. The textbooks selected are those that our local schools are currently using in their classrooms.
