In This Issue

1. Six Hoosier Authors Win State's Top Book Honor
    

2. Newsletter Highlights IMLS Initiatives, LSTA Funding

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Six Hoosier Authors Win State's Top Book Honor

The Indiana Center for the Book named the five winners of the 2009 Best Books of Indiana Awards at a weekend ceremony at the Indiana State Library. The competition consists of five categories each with a panel of judges who considered all entries and granted awards at their discretion. The winning title, author, author's hometown and winning publisher are listed below by category.

2009 Best Books of Indiana

Children's/Young Adult
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost (Fort Wayne).  Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  New York, NY

Fiction
Anathema by Colleen Coble (Wabash). Thomas Nelson Books.  Nashville, TN

Nonfiction Historical/Biographical
Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary by Ray Boomhower (Indianapolis).   Indiana University Press.  Bloomington, IN

Nonfiction Creative/Instructional
Home Grown Indiana by Christine Barbour (Bloomington) and Scott Hutcheson (Lebanon). Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN

Poetry
A Matinee in Plato's Cave by Rob Griffith (Evansville) Water Press & Media. Argyle, TX

The six winning authors were all first-time winners in the Best Books of Indiana Awards. Indianapolis native Ray Boomhower won his first Best Book Award in his record-setting fourth year as a contest finalist. University of Evansville Professor Rob Griffith was victorious in the poetry category that included finalist entries by former Best Book winner (2005) David Shumate (Marian University) and Indiana's Poet Laureate, Norbert Krapf. However, Krapf became the first author in contest history to be selected as a finalist in two different categories in the same year. A complete listing of 2009 competition entrants, including all category finalists, is available at the Indiana Center for the Book's website.

This year's winners will be engraved on a plaque in the Indiana Authors Room where one copy of their book will remain indefinitely. Three copies of all 2009 competition entries have been added to the State Library's collection. Two copies of each entry will circulate. Indiana citizens can borrow any Best Books of Indiana title at the State Library or request it via interlibrary loan at their local public library. 

The State Library started the Best Books of Indiana Awards in 2005 to strengthen interest in Indiana's strong literary heritage. The 2009 competition featured 61 titles published between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. The 2010 competition for books published in 2009 will begin accepting entries on October 2, 2009.

Newsletter Highlights IMLS Initiatives, LSTA Funding

Primary Source,  the monthly eNewsletter from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), keeps you up to date on new IMLS initiatives such as grants and programs, and connects you to valuable information concerning Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding. This month's issue includes the IMLS's first ever analysis of the LSTA grants to states program - the largest source of federal funding for the nation’s libraries. Catalyst for Change: LSTA Grants to State Program and the Transformation of Libraries Services to the Public is a crash course on everything LSTA from its history, to its current objectives, to the future of federal library funding. The report highlights changes in library services resulting from new information technologies, the continuous development of locally-tailored services, and the expectations of the 21st-century library user. The report also makes state-by-state comparisons of immediate challenges, program goals, and top projects in each state. To view or subscribe to Primary Source, visit http://www.imls.gov/news/source.shtm.