The CILIP Carnegie Medal has been awarded annually, since 1936, to the writer of an outstanding book for children and young people. The award, along with the Kate Greenaway award for an outstanding illustrated book for children is administered and judged by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).  

Each year CILIP invites children in schools and reading groups to 'shadow' the judging process, reading the short-listed titles, writing online reviews and deciding which books are their favourites. This shadowing scheme was established in 1994 and has been supported by the Carnegie UK Trust in recent years.

In 2011, the Trust commissioned a scoping study from CILIP and the Open University examining evidence for the impact of the shadowing scheme on children's reading habits, the wider benefits of the scheme both to children, group leaders and the wider school or library environment.

In 2012 we are commissioning further research into the shadowing scheme which will provide evidence of the underpinning value of the shadowing scheme, evidence of the factors which contribute to the success of the scheme and provide case studies of good practice which can be used to promote and extend the scheme.