The Carol Kuhlthau Award

The Carol Kuhlthau Award (“Prêmio Carol Kuhlthau”) is a Brazilian school librarians award established in 2004 by the Study Group on School Libraries (GEBE) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. It honors Distinguished Professor Emerita Carol Collier Kuhlthau’s significant contributions to school librarianship and her long-standing collaboration with Brazilian scholars and practitioners. The award recognizes innovative school library projects, librarians, and library students whose work emphasizes the educational role of the school library.

About the award

When Carol Kuhlthau published “School Librarian’s Grade-by-Grade Activities Program” in 1981, she never imagined the scope of its success. Over the years, the book sold more than 30,000 copies, and now its popularity is helping a new generation of libraries flourish in Brazil.

That international connection came about in 2001, when Bernadette Campello, a professor of library and information studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, proposed translating the book for use by Brazil’s librarians.

“I was thrilled by the book’s original success,” Kuhlthau says. “And Bernadette’s project represented another opportunity to develop and encourage even more school librarians.”

Campello led a team of six Brazilian library professionals who translated the book into Portuguese and updated it to include ideas for using current technology. Published by Autêntica Editora under the Brazilian title Como Usar a Biblioteca na Escola, the book includes a complete sequential activities program to match K-8 students’ developmental stages with their library and information needs.

To further encourage library services for Brazil’s children, Kuhlthau insisted that the Federal University of Minas Gerais retain her royalties and use them to support library studies, projects, and students. “I could see that there was a lot of interest there,” Kuhlthau says. “And I wanted to give Brazil’s librarians the recognition that they were doing something good.” Since then, Campello has also led the initiative of translating a second publication of Kuhlthau’s, “Teaching the Library Research Process” (Autêntica Editora, 2011), with the same generous donation of royalties.

Campello used Kuhlthau’s financial gift to create the Carol Kuhlthau Award, which supports worthy library projects for children. In September 2004, the award’s first four recipients were selected from among 36 proposals. “There are some very interesting projects going on in our small towns,” Campello reported. “This is a wonderful incentive for that good work to continue.”

Else Yvonne Pinto da Silva Cruz of the Colagio Presbiteriano Mackenzie Tombora won first prize in the Librarian’s category for her project “Planning a school library,” which addresses multiple facets of the library environment, including books, research, images, literature, music, fantasy, and magic. In the Teacher Librarian category, Sirlene Silveira Tavares Cunha of the Escola Municipal Maria Loreto dos Santos won first prize for “Continued silent reading.” To help children appreciate reading and develop positive attitudes toward books, Cunha’s project will engage students and staff in daily five-minute silent-reading breaks. Second prizes were awarded to Marildete Malta Jacques of the Escola Estadual Dr. Ulisses Vasconcelos in the Librarian category and Mara Lacia Alvarenga of the Escola Municipal Dona Gabriela in the Teacher Librarian category. Jacques’ “Emotions” project will use library activities and materials to help children express feelings, develop self-respect, and work well with colleagues. Alvarenga’s project, “The world of literature,” will expose children to a variety of authors, thereby enhancing their critical, creative, and vocabulary skills.

Recent and Past Winners

The most recent winner (2024) is Alessandra Barbosa Santana.
Past winners include those from 2013 (IV award) and others in preceding years.

Learn More

For full details on past winners, calls for proposals, and current recipients, see the official page: Prêmio Carol AutenticaKuhlthau – GEBE / UFMG