The Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award program is designed to encourage students in Ohio to read literature critically, to promote teacher and librarian involvement in young adult literature programs, and to commend authors of such literature. The Teen category was added to the existing Buckeye Children’s Book Award in 2003.

History

The Buckeye Children’s Book Award program was established in 1981 through a collaborative effort of the Ohio Council of the International Reading Association, The Ohio Educational Library Media Association, The Ohio Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts, The Ohio Library Council and the State Library of Ohio.

Teachers and librarians serve on the Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award Council. Current sponsoring agencies are:

State Library of Ohio

Ohio Council International
Reading Association (OCIRA)

The Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA)

The Ohio Educational Library
Media Association (OELMA)

The Ohio Library Council (OLC)

The Kent State University School of
Library and Information Science

The Council’s primary job is to prepare the master voting list and post it on the website after nominations are in, and then tabulate and announce the results. The Council also promotes the award, and maintains the BCBA and TBBA websites. The BCBA archives are kept in the Reinberger Children’s Library Center at Kent State University School of Library and Information Science.