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 Children and High School/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.

2026 St. Katharine Drexel Award Winner - Herman Sutter

4/29/2026

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Marc Tyler Nobleman

Herman Sutter has been named the 2026 recipient of the St. Katharine Drexel Award given by the Catholic Library Association (CLA) which recognizes individuals or organizations who have, through their works, made an “outstanding contribution to the growth of high school librarianship” The Award ceremony took place during the CLA Spring Virtual Conference being held on April 23-24, 2026.

Herman Sutter has been a school librarian for more than 30 years. He believes that “only in the library will students discover the sanctuary to sit still and open their minds to the greatest mentors the world has ever known: Aristotle, Pascal, Shakespeare, Edith Stein and Tolstoy (and on and on).” A long-time reviewer for Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Catholic Library World, he is also an award winning essayist for St. Anthony Messenger.

He is the co-author of the research book, Finding the Right Path: Researching Your Way to Discovery, and the poetry chapbooks Stations and The World Before Grace. His narrative poem, “Constance,” received the Innisfree Prize for Poetry in 1988. He is also the author of the blog, The World Before Grace (and After), where he contemplates the paradox of finding grace through the loss of self.
 

St. Katharine Drexel Award Recipients

2026 Herman Sutter

2025 Marc Tyler Nobleman

2024 Jason Reynolds

2023 Antony B. Kolenc

2022 Corinna Turner

2021 Matthew Kelly

2020 Dr. Lesley Farmer

2019 Michael O'Brien

2018 Regina Doman

2017 Gene Luen Yang

2016 Amy Welborn (website)

2015 Joan Bauer (website)

2014 Voya Press

2013 Kimberly Willis Holt (website)

2012 Michael Cart

2011 Laurie Halse Anderson (website)

2010 Jacqueline Woodson (website)

2009 Lois Duncan (website)

2008 Walter Dean Myers (website)

2007 Caroline B. Cooney

2006 Patrick Jones

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)