Santa Monica Public Library presents
The Green Prize for Sustainable Literature

The Green Prize for Sustainable Literature has been established by the Santa Monica Public Library to complement the strong commitment to sustainability established by the City of Santa Monica.

The Library wishes to encourage and commend authors, illustrators, and publishers who produce quality books for adults and young people that make significant contributions to, support the ideas of, and broaden public awareness of sustainability. The City of Santa Monica’s Sustainable City Plan defines sustainability as “meeting current needs - environmental, economic, and social - without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.”

The Green Prize is sponsored by the Santa Monica Public Library and the City of Santa Monica’s Environmental Programs Division.


2007 Green Prize Award Winners

Awards
The Green Prize Award will be presented in four categories in Santa Monica in October 2008. The four categories are: Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Youth Fiction, and Youth Nonfiction.

Criteria
The title must have been published in the United States in the 2007 calendar year. The title should reflect basic sustainability criteria:
-Future and long-term oriented
-Awareness of ecological and resource limits
-Regional as well as global in scope
-Cognizant that everything is interconnected
-Concerned with creating diverse and balanced communities
-Inclusive of social equality and well-being
-Supportive of public involvement in community decisions
-Promotes environmental, economic or social equity ideals
-Published using sustainable practices

Titles will also be judged on:
-Effective presentation of material, including exceptional integration of text, illustration, and design
-Distinctive literary quality
-Originality of scholarship, including uniqueness of format or approach to the topic
-Youth titles should be appropriate for children in grades K-12 and have potential for classroom use

Judges
Books will be judged by a panel of librarians and local authorities on sustainability issues.

Submission Deadline
March 31, 2008

Submission Guidelines
Publishers, authors, librarians and the public are welcome to suggest candidates for the prize, and may submit more than one title. Publishers or authors should send two copies of the book and a brief cover letter that includes contact information and indicates how you learned about the Green Prize.

Send submissions to:
Nancy Bender
Santa Monica Public Library
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Green Prize Presentation Date
October 2008; exact presentation date will be announced in Summer 2008

Questions should be directed to Nancy Bender, Public Services Librarian, Santa Monica Public Library: nancy.bender@smgov.net or 310/458-8922.