What is the purpose of the Texas Bluebonnet Award program?

The Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) reading program was established in 1979 to encourage Texas children to read more books, explore a variety of current books, develop powers of discrimination, and identify their favorite books. The award process provides librarians, teachers, parents, and writers with insight into young students' reading preferences. It further affords an opportunity to honor and encourage imaginative authors who create books with high appeal to children.

The Texas Library Association sponsors the Texas Bluebonnet Award reading list
solely to encourage free voluntary reading.

All school libraries, public libraries and home school groups in Texas are encouraged to participate in Texas Bluebonnet Award. The program is promoted to students in 3rd through 6th grades or those doing work equivalent to those grade levels.

Children can vote only from registered sites. Registration can be done at TLA Annual Conference or through the TBA website. Participating youngsters must read a minimum of five books from the current TBA  Master List before they may vote for their favorite title in January. Teachers, parents, and librarians are encouraged to read some of the books aloud.

Registered sites send their voting tallies to the TLA office by January 31 of each calendar year.  The author of the book receiving the most votes statewide is declared the winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

Further information about the Bluebonnet Program is located in the Bluebonnet Policy and Procedures Manual.

School libraries, public libraries and home school groups  must register each year. The annual registration fee is $15.00. This fee covers administrative costs associated with the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

 The registration period begins on February 1 and continues through January 31 of the following calendar year. Registration can be done at the TLA store at Annual Conference or on the registration form available on the TBA website. Registering prior to August is recommended, but registration may continue through January.

Libraries or home school groups may not participate in the Texas Bluebonnet Award Program, nor claim to participate in the program, unless they are registered by executing the Registration and License Agreement. Doing so may violate state and federal trademark, copyright and unfair competition laws. Librarians must enter into the Registration and License Agreement with TLA in order to be authorized to use Texas Bluebonnet Award materials, trademarks, logos, name, or other identifying characteristics. In addition, librarians who have not registered may not: (1) allow children to vote for the TBA Award; (2) lead youngsters to believe that they or the library is participating in the TBA program; or (3) use the TBA materials in any way.

School and public librarians can check the status of their site’s registration online.

 How is the TBA master list selected?

The Texas Bluebonnet Award Selection Committee is responsible for selection of the books on each year's master list. Librarians, teachers, parents, students and other interested persons are invited to submit recommendations for each year’s list. The suggestion form is located on the TBA website.

In selecting titles, the committee considers children’s interests, relevant content, reputable reviews, and literary quality.  Both fiction and nonfiction books are represented.  The author must be a living U.S. citizen or an author who resides in the United States. Books considered for the master list must have been published in the United States. Only titles published within the three years prior to the master list release date are considered. Textbooks and new editions of existing titles are ineligible.  A new master list of twenty books is released each year in November.

No, the books on The TBA Master List are not intended to be read by all children.  There are vast differences among the reading tastes of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, between boys and girls, and among different children at different points in the year.  The program is intended to promote pleasure reading, therefore youngsters are encouraged to select the books they want to read and not rewarded for reading the entire master list. Remember, they should, “Read 5, then decide.”

From the Texas Bluebonnet Award Policy and Procedure Manual: “The Bluebonnet Master List contains twenty titles each year.  While librarians may choose not to order all titles they cannot substitute or add titles to a list of books called the Bluebonnet Master List.”  Titles may not be deleted or removed from the master list or any promotional TBA materials.

From the TBA Policy and Procedure Manual: “The TBA Master List is a copyrighted list; substitutions and additions cannot be made to it, however, participants may choose not to order all titles. “ To help librarians in their selection process, full text reviews of each book are available on the TBA website. These reviews are provided as hot links from each TBA Master List title.

 Supplies can be ordered online or through the mail with a form that can be downloaded from the TBA website. Payment must accompany orders – no purchase orders are accepted.

The TBA Program Committee creates ancillary information for librarians and teachers such as a list of recommended websites related to each of the TBA Master List titles.  Program Committee members also create a Readers Advisory list for each TBA Master List title. The readers’ advisory list for each title is also available as a link from the individual Master List titles. Other activities are also found.

Another source promotional activity available on the TBA website is Book Talk. This interactive website can be accessed through the TBA homepage. It allows children to read more about the authors and give a review of each title they read.

 There are many ways youngsters can be involved in the program.  They may create book-talks for the morning announcements in a school program or community television through the public library; create readers theater for both public library and school programs; make displays for both school and public libraries; volunteer to read some titles to younger children; decorate classroom doors with a scene from their favorite titles; or conduct debates supporting their favorite books.   In November a wealth of such activities tied to the voting are posted on the TBA website.

Children can also help promote the TBA program as youth representatives for the TBA ceremony at the TLA conference. The application form (rtf) can be found online. An applicant from each of the ten TLA districts is selected every year.  The winning applicants will then decide on a method of choosing a student represent the district at the TBA luncheon. Scholarship stipends are available to help with transportation costs.

In following the mission of the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) reading program, books on the master list are chosen “to encourage Texas children to read more books” and “explore a variety of current books”.  Books, such as the ones mentioned above, already have a built-in audience whereas many of the books considered for the TBA list may not be as well known by students, teachers or librarians.  That’s not to say books by authors already well-known to children aren’t considered, especially if the title is a departure from the author’s earlier works. Books in the Harry Potter series are not eligible because of the author’s ineligibility: “The book must have been published in the U.S. and must have been written an author who is a U.S. citizen or an author who currently resides in the United States.”

There aren’t more Spanish titles for the simple fact that there are a limited number of Spanish titles that meet the criteria set for books eligible for the TBA Master List.  At present, most books published as dual language editions are geared towards a younger audience than the one represented by TBA.  Separate Spanish language editions of books for older readers are frequently released several years after publication, making the original book ineligible for consideration.

 

Members of the TBA committee and other interested parties seek out eligible titles but hold those works to the same criteria as other titles.  To suggest titles for TBA master list consideration, please fill out a suggestion form aavailable on the TBA website or email Beth Thames, the TBA Coordinator, at carolynbeth@gmail.com.

The TBA website contains job descriptions of coordinator, selection, and program committee members as well as applications for each position.  Openings for committee positions are available each year as rotating district members complete their terms.  Please check the committee page  for more details.

Voting is conducted at registered sites and is directed by the person coordinating the program.  Voting materials and instructions are posted on the TBA website in late November or early December.

School and public librarians may select a date (or several dates) in January for voting. The school or public library’s official vote totals must be submitted electronically to TLA by January 31. Youngsters are eligible to vote if:

• The school or public library is registered for the current year.

• Youngsters are in the 3rd through 6th grades or the equivalent for home-schooled students.

• Children have read or heard read at least five of the current master list titles.

The author of the book receiving the most votes statewide is the recipient of the Texas Bluebonnet Award. Ten children who participated in the reading and voting are selected to present the author with the Texas Bluebonnet Award at the TLA Annual Conference.

The registration period extends from February 1 through January 31 of each calendar year.  The registration form is available on the TBA website.  Registering prior to August is recommended, but registration may continue through January.

Part of the choices children make is in the selection of the books they read.  And, although they don’t vote after having all titles on the TBA Master List, their votes indicate their favorites from among the books they believe will interest them. The voting allows youngsters to participate as members of a community of readers and to use their critical reading skills in making choices about the books they want to read and in further honing those choices by voting for one out of five books. The result of their participation is an author winning the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

The easiest way to find out how many children have read five books, and which books they have read, is to ask them.  Sometimes they may have trouble remembering each book, and many librarians show the Bluebonnet video (available as one of the supplies listed on the homepage) right before the voting in order to remind youngsters of the books on the list.  Other librarians will put pictures of the book jackets on the ballots to help children remember the nature of each book.  There is also a form on the TBA website entitled, “Student Reading Record” that enables students to remember what they liked or didn’t like about each book. The Bluebonnet Program does not require, nor advocate, that youngsters take tests on the books, answer formal questions, or write reports as a way of showing they have read particular titles.

The voting sites’ official vote totals must be submitted electronically to TLA by January 31. The votes are totaled in the next few days and verified before the winner is officially declared, typically during the first full week in February.  The winning author and publisher are notified first.  Then the winner is announced on the TBA homepage as well as through email announcements sent to all registered sites, and a press release sent to publishers, newspapers, and numerous professional journals.

Voting statistics are sent through the TBA electronic distribution list to all librarians who have registered their sites.  Individuals can request these figures from the Coordinator, Beth Thames, at carolynbeth@gmail.com.

Now it’s time to celebrate.  The annual Bluebonnet Luncheon, held at the TLA Annual Convention in April gives librarians and children an opportunity to see the winners and to hear them speak.  Information about the luncheon is included annually in the conference registration forms found on the TLA website.

Ten children, one from each TLA district, present the winning author with the Texas Bluebonnet Award at the Bluebonnet luncheon.  The youth representative’s application form can be found online.

When librarians register for the TBA program, they are automatically put on an electronic distribution list.  The coordinator sends out announcements, product information, and other items concerning the program periodically throughout the year.

If you are registered and not receiving this information, please contact Carolyn Reynolds at carolynr@txla.org

The current TBA coordinator, Beth Thames (carolynbeth@gmail.com), welcomes questions and comments and, along with the selection and program committee members, wants to make sure the Texas Bluebonnet Award program is exciting and successful for all Texas librarians and students.