Welcome | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | In Progress | Contact Us | Search
Welcome
WELCOME | CRITERIA | WHO WE ARE
Welcome
WELCOME | CRITERIA | WHO WE ARE
Welcome to the electronic version of Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children. Since 1996, we have been meeting, discussing, and selecting recommended books for young people through age sixteen.
Each year we produce printed lists that are distributed in libraries, schools, and bookstores throughout the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Since 1998, our online presence has offered a worldwide audience the complete texts of each year's list of recommended books, with author, title, keyword and age searching available.
Our In Progress list, which we start building in March, offers a complete list of titles under consideration for the current year, as well as summaries of the discussions for each title.
Finally, we offer a way for you to keep up with the Capitol Choices discussion, either in person or via our listserv; see the Contact Capitol Choices page for details.
CRITERIA
Our mission is to identify the best books of each year to introduce to children and young people. We consider books and audio books for readers up through age sixteen, published in the current calendar year.
What does Capitol Choices mean by "the best?" Best of the year? Best by this author? Best of its type? Our discussions become quite heated at times, but in the end, the titles we choose meet all of these criteria. For this reason, we include titles that we believe have child or teen appeal, in addition to the qualities that mark good books: clarity, accuracy, credibility, and, that most elusive quality of all, distinguished writing and illustration.
WHO WE ARE
The first edition of Capitol Choices built on the work of Margaret Coughlan at the Children's Literature Center of the Library of Congress, who for many years edited an annual list entitled Books for Children. Many of the members of the Capitol Choices group also worked on the earlier list, and we thank her and the Library of Congress for providing us with the opportunity to hone our critical skills during those years. The wise counsel of Maria Salvadore, formerly of the District of Columbia Public Library, also helped us as we clarified the goals of this new group.
Capitol Choices now includes librarians, teachers, booksellers, children's literature specialists, and magazine editors who work in cities, in suburbs, and in rural areas in and around Washington, D.C. Most of us work directly with young people, and all of us share a passion for books and a commitment to bringing children and books together.
Our membership has grown over the years from the dozen original members, to the several dozen people who contributed to the most recent list. A complete list of those committee members is available here.
Capitol Choices has received support from many kind benefactors over the years. Children's Library Services, The Children's Book Source, Baker and Taylor, Book Wholesalers, Inc., the Library of Virginia, and the Maryland Division of Library Development and Services have underwritten the publication of our printed lists, for which we are deeply grateful. Ann Friedman, director of the Arlington County Department of Libraries, and a former member of the Library of Congress committee, has supported our efforts from the beginning.
A special "thank you" goes to the Central Rappahannock (Virginia) Regional Library for hosting our website and providing technical support and web design services, and to all of the others who have worked so hard to make this vision a reality.
-Sharon Grover, Arlington County (Va.) Department of Libraries
-Caroline Parr, Central Rappahannock (Va.) Regional Library System
Editors
Welcome | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | In Progress | Contact Us | Search
Copyright © 2001, Capitol Choices. All rights reserved.
If you have questions or comments, please us.
Copyright © 2001, Capitol Choices. All rights reserved.
If you have questions or comments, please us.