In Roxanna Asgarian’s childhood home, the television had strict usage rules, while books enjoyed a more relaxed atmosphere. Raised in Las Vegas and now a freelance journalist in Dallas, Asgarian is a recipient of this year’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence from the American Library Association. Her nonfiction work, “We Were Once A Family: Love, Death, and Child Removal in America,” delves into the tragic Hart family murder-suicide of 2018, where a couple drove off a cliff with their six adopted children.
Reflecting on her upbringing, Asgarian recalls the freedom her mother granted her at the library, stating, “There were no limits, and that was very helpful to me because I could follow my interests.” This freedom fueled her love for reading, allowing her to explore authors like Roald Dahl. Asgarian emphasizes the importance of allowing individuals to discover what interests them, fostering a genuine love for reading.
Amanda Peters, winner of the fiction medal for “The Berry Pickers,” shares a similar passion for libraries. Hailing from Falmouth, Nova Scotia, Peters, now an associate professor at Acadia University, has been a library patron throughout her life. Her novel unfolds a multi-generational story around the disappearance of a young Mi’kmaq girl from a blueberry field in Maine.
The Carnegie Medal winners each receive $5,000 and will be honored at the ALA’s annual conference in June in San Diego. Aryssa Damron, chair of the awards’ selection committee, praises Peters’ “stunning prose and evocative narrative” and Asgarian’s blend of journalism, narrative nonfiction, and heartbreak, which sheds light on child removal systems in the U.S.
Finalists for the Carnegie prizes included Jesmyn Ward’s “Let Us Descend” and Christina Wong’s and Daniel Innes’ “Denison Avenue” in fiction, along with Jake Bittle’s “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration” and Darrin Bell’s “The Talk” in nonfiction.
A library has been a transformative space for Peters. A visit to her high school library marked a pivotal moment when she checked out John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” The emotional impact of the novella changed her reading trajectory, revealing the profound impact literature could have. Peters fondly recalls the moment when, at 16, she found herself crying over a book – a testament to the transformative power of storytelling.
For Peters, libraries continue to be a preferred space for literary exploration. During travels, she often visits libraries before bookstores, browsing titles and deciding whether to purchase them later. While working on “The Berry Pickers,” Peters found solace in the research section of the New York Public Library’s 5th Avenue branch.
Asgarian also highlights the significance of libraries in her work, citing Houston’s African American History Research Center as invaluable for her reporting. The center, situated in the historic Fourth Ward, provided essential historical documents and news clippings, contributing to the depth of her narrative.
Established in 2012 with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Carnegie Medals have recognized literary excellence, with past winners including Jennifer Egan, James McBride, and Bryan Stevenson. As Asgarian and Peters join the prestigious list of awardees, their contributions to nonfiction and fiction underscore the profound impact of storytelling and the essential role libraries play in nurturing a love for literature.