Kerlan Award

The Kerlan Award is a literary award given by the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative process. It is given "In recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."

Kerlan Award
Awarded for	Given to outstanding writers and illustrators represented in the Kerlan Collection.
Country	United States
Presented by	University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection
First awarded	1975
Website	www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/clrc/kerlan-award

Criteria for award

• The writer or illustrator must be represented within the Kerlan Collection
• The award should promote the goals of the collection and,
• that 'contribution' would emphasize the creative process.
• Awards may be given to a living person or posthumously.

Further refinement of the original guidelines have defined 'singular attainments' as peer acceptance, volume of work and a high standard of quality and the term 'generous donation' was tied directly to high research value in the area of children's literature.

The Kerlan Collection

Irvine Kerlan, M.D. was a Minnesota native who earned his medical degree through the University of Minnesota. Throughout a successful medical career, which included working for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and lecturing throughout the United States he also collected children's books, artwork and manuscripts. His collection was so well respected that he loaned many of his piece out to libraries and museums both within the United States and abroad.

As his collecting hobby advanced, he began writing to authors and illustrators requesting meetings. He would invite them to his home, or visit them as his lecture schedule allowed. He often had books and manuscripts inscribed by these artists and writers. He became an Honorary Consultant on Children's Books for the Smithsonian Institution from 1958 to 1961 and had three of his exhibits travel through Europe, Asia and the Middle East after being sponsored by the U. S. Department of State.

Kerlan was killed in an automobile accident in 1963 and his collection of over 9,000 books, 180 manuscripts and many illustrations was willed to the University of Minnesota. There were also many types of correspondence with authors, artists, and editors.

Kerlan was the first of many estates given to the University of Minnesota libraries, and together these collections have become known as the Children's Literature Research Center (CLRC). Many famous authors and illustrators have donated works to the collection as well. Lois Lowry has given her original corrected manuscripts for thirteen novels, including her Newbery Award winning Number the Stars and The Giver. James Marshall has donated hundreds of sketches including many from the George and Martha and Miss Nelson series.

There are over 1,800 authors and illustrators represented in the collection with an item count of over 200,000.

History of The Kerlan Award

The Kerlan Award was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kelan Collection coming to the University of Minnesota library. It was given the distinction of being a Presidential Citation at its creation.

Kerlan Award recipients

Year	Winner
1975	Marie Hall Ets
	Marguerite Henry
	Elizabeth Coatsworth
1976	Roger Duvoisin
1977	Wanda Gag
1978	Carol Ryrie Brink
1979	Margot Zemach
1980	Glen Rounds
1981	Tomie dePaola
1982	Jean Craighead George
1983	Katherine Paterson
1984	Margaret Wise Brown and her Editors and Illustrators
1985	Eleanor Cameron
1986	Charlotte Zolotow
1987	Charles Mikolaycak
1988	Jane Yolen
1989	Gail E. Haley
1990	Madeleine L'Engle
1991	Leonard Everett Fisher
1992	Barbara Cooney
1993	Mary Stolz
1994	Myra Cohn Livingston
1995	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
	Margot Tomes
1996	Marion Dane Bauer
	Paul Galdone
1997	Theodore Taylor
1998	Dahlov Ipcar
1999	Eve Bunting
	Lois Lenski
	Dr. Edward B. Stanford	Sandford had encouraged Kerlan to donate his collection to the U of M library and, upon Kerlan's unexpected death, he was the one to secure marshals to guard the house while the collection was evaluated, catalogued and moved.
	Dr. Norine Odland	Dr. Orland was one of the first to recognize the high research value of the collection and bring students to view the works presented.
2000	Patricia Lauber
2001	Jane Resh Thomas
	Don Freeman
2002	Joan Lowery Nixon
	Barbara Esbensen
2003	Nikki Grimes
	Gustaf Tenggren
2004	Lois Lowry
2005	Ted Rand
2006	Karen Hesse
2007	Karen Cushman
	Louis Slobodkin
2008	Walter Dean Myers
	Robert Kraus
2009	Jeanette Winter
2010	Nancy Carlson
2011	Jane Kurtz
2012	Karen Nelson Hoyle
2013	Kate DiCamillo
2014	Linda Sue Park and Russell Freedman
2015	Sharon Creech
2016	Betsy Lewin and Ted Lewin
2017	John Coy
2018	Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
2019	Lois Ehlert and Claudia Mills
2020	Jon Scieszka
2021	Ariane Dewey
2022	Andrea Davis Pinkney
2023	Lauren Stringer and Laurie Hertzel

See also

• Newbery Medal
• Caldecott Medal for outstanding American picture books
• Carnegie Medal for outstanding children's books published in the United Kingdom
• Coretta Scott King Award for outstanding children's books related to the African-American experience
• Guardian Award for works of children's literature written by British or Commonwealth authors
• Kate Greenaway Medal for outstanding works of illustration in children's literature from the United Kingdom
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for outstanding lifetime contribution to children's literature

External links

• [1], Kerlan Award
• [2], Kerlan Collection
• [3] Author & Illustrator holdings
• [4] Kerlan Collection Notable Holdings