The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected 41 finalists in seven categories for the 2026 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2025. This is the 60th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards.…
Tae Kellers’ When Tomorrow Burns and Rena Priest‘s Positively Uncivilized are representing Washington state at the 2026 National Book Festival! The Washington Center for Book, a program of the Office of the Secretary of State and the Washington State Library, has selected one youth book and one adult book by Washington authors to represent the state at the 2026 National Book Festival: When…
Congratulations to the winners of the 11th Annual Washington State Zine Contest! Links to digitized copies of the zines will be added to the main Zine Contest page when they are available. 2026 WINNERS: Pre-4th Grade Two Stray Cats by Mika Chang (Redmond) Grades 4-6 Seasons Turning & Time Falling by Norah Armstrong (Sequim) Grades 7-9 C. Inanis: Studies of…
At the recent Washington Library Association conference in Yakima, we coordinated our annual “WA Do I Read Next?” panel featuring library folks and authors talking about recent books by Washington authors that they have read and loved. This year’s panel included Newbery and Pura Belpré winning author Donna Barba Higuera, Washington State Book Award winning author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, Julie Graham…
Meet our 2026 Washington State Book Award (WSBA) Judges! We are thrilled to introduce our wonderful panel of 2026 Washington State Book Award judges who are currently deep into reading and reviewing hundreds of books (published in 2025) from authors across the state. Our judging panels are made up of librarians, library workers, and authors. We are so thankful for…
The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected winners in seven categories for the 2025 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2024. This is the 59th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards. Creative…
The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected 42 finalists in seven categories for the 2025 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2024. This is the 59th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards.…
Congratulations to the winners of the 10th Annual Washington State Zine Contest! Links to digitized copies of the zines will be added when they are available. 2025 Winners Pre-4th Grade The Boy and the Heater by Ronald Han Lethcoe (University Place) Grades 4-6 Without You by Ella Reneé Galuszka (Tacoma) Grades 7-9 Because Life Has Bugs Too by Rosy Yu…
Washington State Adult Summer Reading Book Bingo 2025 is here! Libraries and bookstores of Washington, please feel free to download, print, and distribute these Book Bingo forms to your community members! We’ve seen some libraries in Washington do a drawing for prizes at the end of the summer; we’ve also heard from readers who are excited to bring back some…
At the recent Washington Library Association conference in Tacoma, we co-coordinated, along with The Seattle Public Library, our annual “WA Do I Read Next?” panel featuring library folks and authors talking about recent books by Washington authors that they have read and loved. This year’s panel included Washington State Book Award winning author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, Jennie Diaz (SPL’s West Seattle…