CILIP is the leading professional body for librarians and information managers with around 24,000 members who work in business and industry, education, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.

The selection process is organised by the Youth Libraries Group (YLG), one of CILIP's Special Interest Groups, which itself has over 3000 members. 12 children's librarians - members of the YLG - form the panel of judges.

Nominations for the 2012 Awards open on 1 September 2011 and close on Friday 21 October 2011.

To be eligible for the 2012 Awards titles must have been first published in the UK between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011. Books first published in another country must have been co-published in the UK within three months of the original publication date.

The judges read and assess each title, and a shortlist for each Medal will be announced in late March 2012. The winning titles will be announced at an awards ceremony in June 2012.

You may also wish to view the CILIP Carnegie Medal award criteria and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal award criteria for details on how the books are assessed.

Who can nominate and how to do it

Members of CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, either personally, through their local authority or through their regional Branch or Special Interest Group.

Nominations can be submitted electronically via an online form.

Up to 2 titles may be nominated accompanied by supporting statements of 30 - 50 words.The supporting statement should be a summary of what makes the book outstanding in the view of the nominator, highlighting its strengths against the Carnegie criteria. It should not be a simple retelling of the book's content.

Nominations for the 2012 Awards must be received by Friday 21 October 2011.

The full list of 2012 nominations will be announced on the press desk on Friday 4 November 2011.