What are the categories of the books?

Each year, the Morning Calm Medal is awarded to four books, one from each of the following categories: lower elementary (picture books), upper elementary (chapter books), middle school, and high school.

How many nominations are there in each category?

In each category there are five books eligible to win the Morning Calm Medal. It is from these nominated books that the students will choose the winner.

What is the criteria for nomination?

For books to be nominated for the Morning Calm Medal, there are some criteria that must be adhered to.  It is essential that the book has been read by the nominating teacher or librarian. Furthermore, the book cannot have been published more than three years prior and only the first book of a series can be considered.  Most importantly, the book cannot have won any other major literary award such as the Newbery or Caldecott Medals. As there is no preference for nationality or genre, the nominations expose librarians (and subsequently their students) to new but unfamiliar books and authors.

How are the nominees selected?

The short-listed books for the following school year are selected during the Spring meeting of the Korean International Librarians Association (KILA).  The librarians are from a variety of international schools throughout Korea with specialization in either elementary, middle school or high school. Currently, there are more than fifty librarians included in the Korean International Librarians Association (KILA).

How can students participate?

Students will need to read ALL (or most) of the books in one category to be eligible to vote.  High school will need to read three (of the five nominated books) to be eligible to vote.

Your librarian will send out a form when it is time to vote (usually in March or April). 

More information

Please also visit the Morning Calm website: 

https://morningcalmmedal.wordpress.com/