The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is part of the American Library Association (ALA). In 1972, the Adult Services Division and the Reference Services Division of the ALA were combined into the Reference and Adult Services Division (RASD). RUSA was formed in 1996.

RUSA gives out awards each year for books, media, and professional librarians. Experts from the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES), the Business Reference and Service Section (BRASS), and the History Section (HS) choose the awards.

The Book and Media Awards include "Notable Books for Adults," which have been selected by the RUSA Notable Books Council since 1944. The Notable Books Council is part of the RUSA CODES Section. RUSA also honors outstanding work by librarians in reference services and its special areas with annual awards given at the division level and by each section.

2024 awards

The association gives yearly awards for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, audiobook narration, and reference materials. People who win are chosen by groups of experts who work with adults. The groups that give book and media awards are CODES, BRASS, and the History Section.

RUSA also gives awards to librarians for their professional work. Each RUSA group gives awards in the areas they specialize in. These awards are given by the CODES committees.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction are supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The American Library Association and RUSA, along with Booklist, help organize the awards. Three former members of the RUSA CODES Notable Books Council and editors from Booklist choose the winners.

Fiction: The Berry Pickers: A Novel by Amanda Peters (New York: Catapult).
Nonfiction: We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian (New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux).

Biography: Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC).
Dearborn by Ghassan Zeineddine (Tin House).
Hangman by Maya Binyam (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
In Memoriam by Alice Winn (A Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC).
North Woods by Daniel Mason (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC).
Open Throat by Henry Hoke (MCD, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC).
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC).
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.).
Y/N by Esther Yi (Astra House, a division of Astra Publishing House).

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC).
Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation by Camonghne Felix (One World, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC).
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair (37 Ink, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.).
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
Master, Slave, Husband, Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (Simon and Schuster).
Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming by Ava Chin (Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC).
Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of 'Latino' by Héctor Tobar (MCD, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond (Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC).
The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike (Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.).
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle (Simon & Schuster).
The Talk by Darrin Bell (Henry Holt and Company).
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann (Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC).

Promises of Gold / Promesas de Oro by José Olivarez (Henry Holt and Company).
Side Notes from the Archivist by Anastacia-Renee (Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers).
Trace Evidence by Charif Shanahan (Tin House).

The Sophie Brody Medal is a yearly award given by RUSA. It honors outstanding work in Jewish literature published in the United States the previous year. The award is named after Sophie Brody and was created by her husband, Arthur Brody, and the Brodart Foundation.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Random House).

The Reading List is a RUSA CODES committee that creates a yearly list of the best books in different genres for adults.

Fiction: Adrenaline: Better the Blood: A Hana Westerman Thriller by Michael Bennett (Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic).
Fantasy: Gods of the Wyrdwood: The Forsaken Trilogy, Book One by R. J. Barker (Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group).
Historical fiction: Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel by Lisa See (Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.).
Horror: The September House by Carissa Orlando (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC).
Mystery: A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao (Soho Press, Inc.).
Relationship Fiction: The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC).
Romance: Role Playing by Cathy Yardley (Montlake, an imprint of Amazon Publishing).
Science fiction: House of Gold by C. T. Rwizi (47 North, an imprint of Amazon Publishing).

The Listen List Council of the CODES section of RUSA includes fiction and nonfiction audiobooks with voices that are engaging and inspiring.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal. HarperAudio.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Narrated by Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio. Books on Tape.
Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro and Giampiero Ambrosi. Narrated by Richard Ferrone, Tony Tetro, and Giampiero Ambrosi. Hachette Audio

2023 awards

These awards are given by the RUSA Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) committees.

• Fiction: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (Alfred A. Knopf, published by Penguin Random House).
• Nonfiction: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (Random House, published by Penguin Random House).

• The World Atlas of Trees and Forests: Exploring Earth's Forest Ecosystems by Herman Shugart, Peter White, Sassan Saatchi, and Jérôme Chave (Princeton University Press).
• Seeking Fortune Elsewhere by Sindya Bhanoo (Catapult).
• Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Viking, published by Penguin Random House).
• Trust by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead Books, published by Penguin Random House).
• Stories From The Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana (Scribner, published by Simon & Schuster).
• The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (Alfred A. Knopf, published by Penguin Random House).
• The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai (Viking, published by Penguin Random House).
• What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri (Tin House).
• Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde (Riverhead Books, published by Penguin Random House).
• The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (Alfred A. Knopf, published by Penguin Random House).
• Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin (Celadon Books, published by Macmillan).
• The Furrows by Namwali Serpell (Hogarth, published by Random House).

• Also A Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, And Me by Ada Calhoun (Grove Press, published by Grove Atlantic).
• The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, An Unspeakable War and Liberation by Scott Carney and Jason Miklian (Ecco, published by HarperCollins).
• Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke (Basic Books, published by Perseus Books).
• The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland (Harper, published by HarperCollins).
• This Body I Wore: A Memoir by Diana Goetsch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
• We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth by Dahr Jamail and Stan Rushworth (The New Press).
• Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones (Avid Reader Press, published by Simon & Schuster).
• The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner, published by Simon & Schuster).
• His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life And The Struggle For Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa (Viking, published by Penguin Random House).
• Under The Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and the Health of Our Nation by Linda Villarosa (Doubleday, published by Penguin Random House).
• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (Random House, published by Penguin Random House).

• Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen (BOA Editions, Ltd.).
• Alive At the End Of the World by Saeed Jones (Coffee House Press).
• Bless the Daughter Raised by A Voice in Her Head by Warson Shire (Random House, published by Penguin Random House).
• The Rupture Tense by Jenny Xie (Graywolf Press).

• One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank. Art by Maira Kalman (Avid Reader Press, published by Simon & Schuster).

• Adrenaline: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley, published by Penguin Random House).
• Fantasy: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (A Tor Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates).
• Historical fiction: By Her Own Design: A Novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register by Piper Huguley (William Morrow, published by HarperCollins).
• Horror: Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (A Nightfire Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates).
• Mystery: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley Prime Crime, published by Berkley, published by Penguin Random House).
• Relationship fiction: The Guncle: A Novel by Steven Rowley (G. P. Putnam's Sons, published by Penguin Random House).
• Romance: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin's Griffin, published by St. Martin's Publishing Group).
• Science fiction: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (A Tordotcom Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates).

• The Angel of Rome: And Other Stories by Jess Walter. Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini and Julia Whelan (HarperAudio).
• The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra. Narrated by Soneela Nankani (Blackstone Publishing).
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Narrated by Julia Whelan (Books on Tape).
• The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (HarperAudio).
• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong. Narrated by Ed Yong (Books on Tape).
• Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley. Narrated by Clare Corbett (Books on Tape).
• A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin. Narrated by Eleanor Tomlinson (Books on Tape).

Older awards

The winners of past RUSA Awards can be found on the website of the Reference and User Services Association: RUSA Awards.