ALA’s Schneider Family Book Award

Many of you already know that ALA’s Schneider Family Book Award was conceived and is funded by the inimitable Dr. Katherine Schneider, who lives right here in the Chippewa Valley.  Kathie created the award, along with the folks at ALA, in order to highlight books for children and teens that artistically embody the disability experience.  Growing up as a blind kid, Kathie didn’t find many books that did that, and as an adult, she decided to do something about it.

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of the award, and this year the UWEC McIntyre Library held a special event to commemorate the event.  One of the most amazing things at the celebration was a display of books with quotes from authors and illustrators about the effect the award had on them and on their career.  Here is one:

Winning the Schneider Family Book Award has truly been one of the biggest highlights of my career as a children’s book author…The award has done so much to encourage both publishers and authors to tell the stories of people with disabilities, and also to lift up those books to a very high standard…I am so appreciative of all that Katherine Schneider has done to make this world a better, more understanding, and more inclusive place for all children”  Cynthia Lord, author of 2007’s award-winning book, Rules.

It’s pretty thrilling to have the person who is responsible for this right here in our midst, advocating for libraries and accessibility and animals.  Hooray for local super-heroes!