Coretta Scott King Award
annual award presented since 1970 by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA)
The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Award Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that reflect the African American experience. Awards are given both to authors and to illustrators for universal human values.
The first author award was given in 1970. In 1974, the award was expanded to honor illustrators as well as authors. Starting in 1978, runner-up Author Honor Books have been recognized. Recognition of runner-up Illustrator Honor Books began in 1981.
In addition, the Coretta Scott King Awards committee has given the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, starting in 2010, and beginning in 1996 an occasional John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
Like the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal, the Coretta Scott King Awards have the potential to be used in classroom teaching and projects.
History
The idea for the Coretta Scott King Award came from Glyndon Flynt Greer, a school librarian in Englewood, New Jersey.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Coretta Scott King Award” as annual award presented since 1970 by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as annual award presented since 1970 by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5170318. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1974, 1978 and 1981.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Coretta Scott King Award”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Coretta Scott King Award primary sources, Coretta Scott King Award archive and Coretta research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Coretta Scott King Award”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Coretta Scott King Award” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.