Carnegie Medal for Writing Books

The Carnegie Medal for Writing has been awarded since 1936 in memory of Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), the Scottish-born industrialist whose fortune paid for more than 2,800 free libraries. It is run by CILIP, the UK's library and information association, together with its Youth Libraries Group, and goes to an outstanding book written in English for children and young people first published in the UK or Ireland. Arthur Ransome's Pigeon Post took the first medal.

The Carnegie is judged solely by librarians: CILIP members nominate titles, and a panel of children's librarians reads every nomination before naming a longlist in February, a shortlist in March, and a winner in June. Poetry, nonfiction and graphic novels are eligible alongside fiction, and the age range runs from picture books to young adult, so one shortlist can hold both. It is also a reliable way to find British books that reached the United States quietly or under another name — the 1995 winner, Northern Lights, is The Golden Compass in American editions, and the 1996 winner, Junk, was published here as Smack.

The medal's name has moved with its sponsors: it was the CILIP Carnegie Medal, then the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing from 2022 to 2024, and since 2025 simply the Carnegie Medal for Writing.

Information from CILIP.