Join a CLA Sponsored Listserv
CLA Reads
Become a member of CLA. Download, fill out and mail the PDF form on the St. Katharine Drexel Award
(formerly Certificate of Merit 1966-2001)
The St. Katharine Drexel Award was established in 1966 under the title Certificate of Merit and renamed in 2002. Presented by the High School and Young Adult Library Services Section through the St. Katharine Drexel Award Committee, the St. Katharine Drexel Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to the growth of high school librarianship.
2013 St. Katharine Drexel Award Winner
The High School and Young Adult Services Section are pleased to announce that Kimberly Willis Holt will receive the 2013 St. Katharine Drexel Award at the NCEA/CLA convention to be held in Houston, Texas, April 2-3-4.
"You can have one year off to write." That's what Kimberly Willis Holt's husband told her back in June 1994. She didn't own a computer so she began to write on yellow legal pads. Since then she's written seventeen books, and won many awards and honors, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She's never gone back to a traditional job.
St. Katharine Drexel - Recipient for 2006
Patrick Jones, nationally respected YA librarian, author, and lecturer, was presented with the 2006 Katharine Drexel Award at the 2006 CLA Convention on April 20th in Atlanta. Jones also is the recently announced recipient of the American Library Association's 52nd annual Scholastic Library Publishing Award.
Mr. Jones, who holds a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Michigan, has had a long career as a librarian, having worked as a reference librarian and young adult librarian. He was the Young Adult Regional Manager at the Cuyohoga County Library in Ohio, and later a Houston school librarian and Youth Services Coordinator for the Houston Public Library. Patrick currently is a resident of suburban Minneapolis.
Jones's first professional publication was Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A How To Do It Manual, the third edition of which was published by Neal Schuman in 2004. His latest,Reaching Reluctant Teen Readers, is scheduled for release in the summer of 2006.
Patrick Jones's first young adult novel, entitled Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004), was named a Recommended Books for Reluctant Readers by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Dealing with the subject of dating violence, this novel follows the struggles of high school junior Johanna and her difficult choices. Mr. Jones's newest novel, Nailed (Walker & Company 2006), has already garnered a Best Book for Young Adults nomination. According to its author, Nailed, was inspired by the works of REM. The YA novel tackles the issue of bullying through the experiences of sixteen-year-old Bret Hendricks, who refuses to conform to peer expectations.
In addition to writing and lecturing, Mr. Jones also runs Connectingya.com, a firm dedicated to consulting, training, coaching, and for providing powerful youth services in libraries. He has presented about library services to young adults in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He can be found on the web at www.connectingya.com.
St. Katharine Drexel Award Recipients
2013 Kimberly Willis Holt (website)
2012 Michael Cart
2011 Laurie Halse Anderson (website)
2010 Jacqueline Woodson (website) (read more)
2009 Lois Duncan (website) (read more)
2008 Walter Dean Myers (website)
2007 Caroline B. Cooney (read more)
2006 Patrick Jones (read more)
2005 Chris Crutcher (website)
2004 Norma Fox Mazer
2003 Rosen Publishing (website)
2002 Joan Lowery Nixon
Certificate of Merit recipients
2001 Sharon Draper (website)
1998 Enslow Publisher (website)
1997 Social Issues Resource Series (SIRS) (website)
1996 Winnebago Software Company (website)
1995 Donald R. Gallo
1994 Follett Library Book and Software Companies (website)
1993 Sister Francis Marita McGettigan, IHM
1992 St. Anthony Messenger Press (website)
1991 United States Catholic Conference (website)
1990 Ave Maria Press (website)
1989 Reverend John Powell
1988 Reverend John Catoir (website)
1987 World Book (website)
1986 Judge Michael F. Godfrey
1985 Doubleday Image Books
1984 James Clayton
1983 Marjorie Holmes
1982 Peggy Sullivan
1981 Ruth Ann Davies
1980 Margaret Allen Waltzer
1979 Scholastic Magazines / Press (website)
1978 Field Enterprises
1977 Mary Arthur Hoagland, IHM
1976 Lillian Shapiro
1975 Jane Hindman
1974 Reverend John R. Whitley
1973 Monsignor Edward T. Hughes
1972 Media and Methods (website)
1971 American Association of School Librarians, ALA (website)
1970 Isaac Asimov (website)
1969 Time-Life Books
1968 H.W. Wilson Company (website)
1967 Francis Keppel and Mildred Batchelder (website)
1966 Paulist Press (website)
St. Katharine Drexel - Recipient for 2007
Renowned young adult author, Caroline B. Cooney, received the St. Katharine Drexel Award, sponsored by the High School and Young Adult Library Services Section, at a breakfast in her honor on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore, MD.
