Fort Lee Library Among Five In NJ To Receive Book Award Collection

The was recently announced as one of five libraries in the state to be awarded the 24th annual New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) Book Award Collection.

Fort Lee joins Caldwell Public Library, Cherry Hill Public Library, Millville Public Library and Wayne Public Library as this year’s recipient of 18 titles nominated by 13 publishers from across the U.S.

The 2012 NJCH Book Award winner was “J.D. Salinger: A Life” by Kenneth Slawenski.

NJCH also named three titles, “Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything” by Stephen Baker, “Jersey Justice: The Story of the Trenton Six” by Cathy D. Knepper and “Eco-Republic: What the Ancients Can Tell Us About Ethics, Virtue and Sustainable Living” by Melissa Lane as its 2012 “Honor Books.”

Each year, NJCH gives copies of its complete collection of books nominated for the Humanities Book of the Year Award to public libraries around the state for their circulating collections, according to the organization.

“As in competitions past, these books demonstrate the extraordinary breadth of the humanities and insights of many gifted authors,” a Fort Lee library official said in a statement announcing the award.

In addition to receiving the 18 books, which will all be available to check out from the Fort Lee Public Library, NJCH Executive Director Sharon Ann Holt will be on hand at the library to present the titles on Thursday Sept. 6 at 2 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend.

NJCH provides the following description on its website of this year’s winner:

In J.D. Salinger: A Life, author Kenneth Slawenski adds significant new information to our understanding of the life and work of J.D. Salinger, one of the most important American fiction writers of the 20th century. Using archival research and extensive interviews, Slawenski brings attention to such previously unrecognized issues, including how Salinger’s service in the armed forces during World War II affected his writing. The award committee felt that J.D. Salinger: A Life accomplished the highest goal of a literary biography—to excite the reader into revisiting the works of the author under discussion with a renewed sense of interest, knowledge, and wonder. Kenneth Slawenski is the creator of Dead Caulfields, a website devoted to J.D. Salinger.   

Funded primarily by the National Endowment for the Humanities, NJCH was established in 1972 with the mission of developing, supporting and promoting “projects that explore and interpret the human experience, foster cross-cultural understanding and engage people in dialogue about matters of individual choice and public responsibility,” according to the nonprofit organization.