By Staff
Each year the American Library Associations and its many subdivision, give out dozens of awards for books and authors who make significant contributions to literature.  Some of these awards, such as the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and the Coretta Scott King award, are very well known.
The following are a few of the less as known awards, their significance and the most recent winners.
The Pura Belpre Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.  The 2006 winners are The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales and Doea Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart by Raul Coln
The Dartmouth Medal honors the creation of a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The award is given to works that have been published or made available for the first time during the calendar year preceding the presentation of the award. Dartmouth College established sponsorship of the award in 1974.  The Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film by Routledge, Taylor and Francis is the 2006 medal winner.
Although it is the most recently established award given by ALA, The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award already has significant name recognition. Established in 2004, the first award was made earlier this year.  It honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children's literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year.
The award is named for the world-renowned children's author, Theodor Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.  The first award winner is Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas by Cynthia Rylant.
The Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award are presented for exceptional merit relating to gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experiences.
The most recent honorees are The Master by Colm Toibin and Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and in People by Joan Roughgarden. 
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
The 2006 winner is John Green for Looking for Alaska.
The Mildred L. Batchelder award, established in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.
The award is intended to encourage American publishers to seek out superior children's books abroad and to promote communication among the peoples of the world.
The most recent publisher to win the award is Arthur A. Levine Books for An Innocent Soldier.
For more information about these and other award winning books, visit the library.