For most people, waking up early on a Saturday morning, driving for two hours down to Dwight, and spending the entire day discussing books is not appealing compared to the usual Saturday rituals of sleeping in, playing video games, lazing around, and texting friends. However, on Saturday February 2, 2013, senior Ana Botto did exactly the former when she attended the Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award Selection Committee, and she admitted that “it was totally worth it.”

The Abe Award is a reader’s choice award based on student votes in Illinois, presented to the best book out of twenty-two contending for the award. After reading a total of four books on the nomination list, students in grades 9-12 are provided with the opportunity to vote for their favorite Abe Lincoln book during March.

Early in fall, Ana applied for a position on the Abe Lincoln Book Selection Committee because she “thought it would be cool to influence what other people would read next year.” The committee consists of a student panel with seven people and an adult panel (consisting of librarians and teachers) with around twenty people.

“We were selected through librarian recommendations. We also had to submit a short page on why we thought we should be selected,” explained Ana. “Ultimately, they judged us by whether they thought we would finish the books and how they thought we would engage in the conversation.”

Upon her selection, Ana was provided with a list of ten books she had to read before the meeting, along with an additional list of seventy-five books. “I read a total of thirty of them,” said Ana. “I really wanted to engage in the conversation and contribute opinions.”
Ana described how all individuals participating sat in a circle and discussed each one of the books. “We would nominate a book either for deletion or to put it on the list,” she explained. “We would talk about why we thought it should be on there, why it shouldn’t be on there, and then it would go to a vote.”

In terms of voting rights, everyone had equal say, with the exception of the student panel’s four ‘saves.’ Ana recalled, “We had four absolutes. If we decided that we wanted a certain book on there and the adult panel voted to kill it, we … had complete control.” —-
Ana’s experience of selecting books proved to be a challenge. Books that she thought were worthy of nomination were deleted, while others that she strongly disliked were, in fact, nominated. According to her, it was “extremely frustrating” in these instances.

However, at the same time, Ana had loads of fun and an unforgettable experience. “I got to spend hours and hours discussing books with people who felt the same way as I did about these things,” she exclaimed. “ They were really passionate!”

In addition, Ana explained how “it was really fun to be able to be considered as an adult and to be able to voice my opinions- when I got a book on the list that I really really loved, it was satisfying.”

Through these experiences, Ana feels as if she has taken away an important life lesson that will prove invaluable in her future. “I will remember how important it is to compromise,” explained Ana. In order to keep Room by Emma Donoghue–one of her favorite books– on the list of nominations, Ana allowed books she did not like to remain on the list.  Therefore, Ana concluded, “You can’t always get what you want.”

View the list of 22 nominated titles at the PR library website.