All Richmond Public Library locations will be closed Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. All Richmond Public Library locations are closed Sunday, January 19.  

YAVA

Nominations Now Open for the 2021 YAVA Award

We need you to nominate your favorite young adult Virginia author for the 2021 YAVA Award!

The nomination period will run from January 3 – January 31, 2020. 

Criteria for Consideration:

  • The author must reside in Virginia
  • The book must have been released during 2019
  • The book must have been written for readers in middle or high school
  • The main character must be at least 13 years of age
  • The book may be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or graphic novel

The winning author will be recognized and receive a $1,000 cash prize at the 2021 YAVA Award Celebration at Richmond Public Library on Saturday, April 17, 2021 from 2-4pm.

We’re Mixing It Up in the New Decade for the YAVA Award

This year we are pleased to announce some new and exciting changes to the YAVA Award.

 

Here’s what you need to know:

  • There’s an all new judging process. Instead of a two-phase judging process the YAVA Award will be awarded based on feedback from a group of teens who read and evaluate each of the nominated titles. Teens will have the opportunity to apply to be judges during National Library Week, April 19-25, 2020.
  • Our timeline is shifting. Nominations for the award will still take place in January 2020, however, reading and judging will start in this summer and continue until early 2021. This will give our teen judges plenty of time to carefully ready and evaluate the titles.
  • There will be no 2020 YAVA Award. The new timeline shifts the award process back a bit. As a result, there will be no 2020 YAVA Award. But, do not despair…
  • We’re still having a 2020 YAVA Celebration. Instead of holding an awards ceremony in 2020, we’ll be inviting ALL of our previous YAVA nominated authors to celebrate almost a decade of the YAVA Award! Join us at the Main Library on Saturday, April 18, 2020 from 3-5pm, where we’ll be partying like Gatsby! It will be a roaring good time!