Eliza Atkins Gleason Book Award

The Eliza Atkins Gleason Book Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association every third year to recognize the best book written in English in the field of library history. The award bears the name of Eliza Atkins Gleason, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Library Science, from University of Chicago in 1940. Her book, The Southern Negro and the Public Library (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1941), traced the history of library service to African Americans up to that time and laid the foundation for all subsequent scholarship on that aspect of library history.

Eligibility and Criteria

Books published in the three preceding calendar years are eligible; e.g. books that appeared in 2022, 2023, and 2024 will be eligible for the award in 2025. Bibliographies and edited collections will not be considered. Entries are judged on quality of scholarship, clarity of style, and depth of research. The round table is particularly interested in works that place the subject within its broader historical, social, cultural, and political context and make interdisciplinary connections with print culture and information studies.

Nominations and Selection

The Gleason Book Award Committee, a subcommittee of the Research Committee of the Library History Round Table, serves as jury for the award. Nominations are welcome from all interested parties and should include a brief statement explaining why the book is worthy of consideration for the Gleason Book Award and, preferably, three copies of the nominated book. Before submitting a nomination, please contact the chair to see if the book has already been nominated.

The Gleason Award will be given next in 2025.

Presentation of the Award