Photo of Carrie Shaurette and the winning book, The First State of Being, along with the Honor winners.
We are pleased to announce that Carrie Shaurette served on the distinguished Newbery Award Selection Committee for 2025. The Newbery committee chooses the children’s book that is the “most distinguished contribution to American literature” for children.
Carrie is the Children’s Collection Development Coordinator at Darien Library and was thrilled to play a part in selecting which book won the 2025 Newbery Medal and Honor Books.
About the Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for an American children's book published the previous year. Originally proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, the Newbery Medal is the oldest children’s book award in the world.
This year’s winner is The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. This is the second Newbery Medal-winning title by the author. The previous one was Hello, Universe in 2018.
About the Committee
Each year, fifteen distinguished librarians are selected to join the Newbery Medal Committee. The committee members read eligible books before deliberating on the winning titles.
This year's deliberations took place in Phoenix, Arizona in January 2025. The committee members follow strict criteria in their proceedings and while the winner and honor books are publicly announced at the ALA Youth Media Awards, the details of the committee discussions remain confidential.
Congratulations, Carrie!
Shaurette says that serving on the Newbery Committee has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of her life. “I’m so proud of the work the committee did together this year and honored to share these books with the community.”
Learn more about this year’s award-winning children's books.
What Carrie has accomplished by serving on the Newbery committee is every children's librarian's dream! The amount of work that she invested is truly remarkable, and I am so proud and excited for her.
Carrie’s taste and enthusiasm for children's literature is really unmatched, and we are extremely fortunate to have her here at Darien Library, recommending books to the community.
Claire Moore Salgado, Head of Children's Services, Darien Library