History

History of the Sequoyah Book Awards

• Children's Winners (1959- )
  • Children's Masterlists (PDF)
• Young Adult Winners (1988-2009)
  • Young Adult Masterlists (PDF)
    • Annotated version (PDF)
• Intermediate Winners (2010- )
  • Intermediate Masterlists (PDF)
    • Annotated version (PDF)
• High School Winners (2010- )
  • High School Masterlists (PDF)
    
    • Annotated version (PDF)

The first Sequoyah Children's Book Award was given in April, 1959, making the award the third oldest children's choice award in the nation.

In 1988, the first Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award was given. Twenty years later the YA book award was changed to “Intermediate Award” and a High School award was created and was first awarded in 2010.

The awards are given annually, usually as an event at the Oklahoma Library Association's Annual Conference.

The Oklahoma Library Association honors Sequoyah for his unique achievement in creating the Cherokee syllabary, the 86 symbols representing the different sounds in the Cherokee language.

His statue is one of the two representing Oklahoma in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The son of a Cherokee mother and a white trader father, Sequoyah, Cherokee for "Lame One," was also known by his English name, George Guess.

A cabin built by Sequoyah as part of a United States government grant still stands near Sallisaw. This grant was the first given for literary achievement in the United States.