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WNBA Announces
Winners of 2008 Pannell Award
The Women’s National Book Association is proud to announce the winners of
this year’s Lucile Micheels Pannell Award given annually since 1983 to two bookstores that excel in contributing to their
communities in ways that bring books and young people together. The winner in the
General Bookstore category is Kepler’s Books and Magazines in Menlo Park, CA; the winner in the Children’s Specialty Store category is The
Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne,
VT. Honorable
Mention is awarded to Vero Beach Book Center in Vero Beach, Fl.
A jury of five book industry professionals deliberated for four weeks,
then selected the winners based on creativity, responsiveness to community needs and an understanding of young
readers. Jurors noted that the staff at Kepler’s has done “an amazing job
resurrecting a store that was on the verge of closing just three years ago.” With
initiatives like their African Library Project, they are raising awareness of books for young people, not just in their
community, but in parts of the world where children do not have books of their own. The Flying Pig Bookstore “is more than a bookstore” in that the owners—Elizabeth
Bluemle and Josie Leavitt—“have created a place that gives back to everyone who wants to be part of the book community;” as
well as sharing their knowledge and experience with other booksellers at national and regional organizations, such as the New
England Children’s Booksellers Assn. and NEBA/NEIBA. The jury admired the
creative programming at Vero
BeachBookCenter, like the Coral Reef which was designed in a way that customers
young and old could learn while being entertained.
In addition to WNBA, the Pannell Award is underwritten by a generous gift
from Penguin Young Readers Group. Each winner will receive a check for $1000 and
a framed piece of original art by a children’s book illustrator. This year’s art
was contributed by Janet Stevens, an award-winning illustrator of many books including her latest, Help Me, Mr. Mutt!; and Chris Van Dusen, illustrator of the bestselling Mercy Watson Series by Kate Dicamillo, including this summer’s Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig. The
presentation of the awards will be at the “Celebration of Bookselling” at BEA on May 29th in Los Angeles.
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The Women’s National Book
Association, founded in 1917, is a national organization of women and men who work with and value books. WNBA, an all-volunteer organization, exists to promote reading and to support the role of
women in the book community. To learn more about WNBA or the Pannell Award, visit
www.wnba-books.org.
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