In 1969, two librarians, Glyndon Flynt Greer and Mabel McKissack, decided it was time to specifically honor children's books created by black authors and illustrators.

Their goal was twofold: promote the few books by blacks writers that were being published at the time, and also push publishers to offer more such children's books.

So a year later, a group of 20 librarians gathered to present the first Coretta Scott King Book Award to "Martin Luther King Jr.: Man of Peace" by Lillie Patterson. It was one of only three books eligible for the award that year.

Fast forward 40 years: These days, Coretta Scott King Book Award committee members sift through 90 or so books, while nearly 1,000 people attend the annual awards breakfast.

There now are two major Coretta Scott King Book Awards bestowed each year: one recognizing a book written by a black author, another recognizing a book illustrated by a black illustrator. Honor books in each category also are named each year.

In addition, there's the John Steptoe New Talent Award, which is given most years to exceptional black authors and illustrators who are just starting their children's book careers.

"We have served to encourage as well as recognize great talent," said Deborah Taylor, current chairwoman of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards committee and coordinator of school and student services at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

"Artists like Kadir Nelson, E.B. Nelson and Bryan Collier received their first awards from the Coretta Scott King Committee and now they are major players in the picture book world. Before (author) Angela Johnson won the MacArthur ("Genius") Award or a Printz Award (for young adult literature), she had won multiple Coretta Scott King Awards.

"(Author) Jacqueline Woodson's first major award came from the Coretta Scott King Book Awards; now she is a multiple Newbery Honor recipient," Taylor said.

Andrea Davis Pinkney, a Scholastic vice president, notes in the February edition of Booklist magazine that the Coretta Scott King Book Award increases sales of winning books.

"But more important is the broader impact the award has on the publishing industry and the children who read and enjoy the books. These intangible gifts cannot be measured by sales figures," writes Pinkney, who won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor for her book "Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters."

Yet there still is work to be done, Taylor says, noting, "there are few examples of genre fiction" -- blacks as protagonists in fantasy novels or mysteries for kids.

Taylor added: "We also seem to be stuck with story lines that are either 'boys in the 'hood' or 'Roll of Thunder' (Mildred Taylor's Newbery Medal-winning novel highlighting segregation in the South).

"(There are) not too many books with characters like the new residents of the White House! Interesting, though, that last year's winner for the new talent award was for a middle-grade novel about a biracial boy who loves science," Taylor said, referring to "Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It" by Sundee Frazier.

There are some signs that more types of children's books written by black authors are beginning to be published. For example, Coretta Scott King winner Sharon Draper has just published "Sassy: Little Sister Is NOT My Name!" (Scholastic, $14.99), the first in a planned series about a middle-class, 9-year-old black girl.

Now, as they celebrate the 40th birthday of the awards, Taylor, Pinkney and others are hoping to put a spotlight on the dozens of books that have won the award. As part of that celebration, the Web site for the Coretta Scott King Book Award, www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/cskbookawards/index.cfm, has been updated, and new resources for teachers and parents will be added throughout the year.

"We now have an army of committed foot soldiers ready to take the Coretta Scott King Book Awards to a new level of recognition," Pinkney says.

Here are the 2009 winners of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards:

• Author Award: Kadir Nelson for "We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro Baseball" (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, $18.99, ages 9 up).

• Illustrator Award: Floyd Cooper for "The Blacker the Berry" (Amistad/HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 6-10), written by Joyce Carol Thomas.

• Author Honor Books: "Keeping the Night Watch" (Henry Holt, $18.95, ages 9-12; "The Blacker the Berry"; and "Becoming Billie Holiday" (Wordsong/Boyds Mill Press, $19.95, ages 12 up) by Carol Boston Weatherford.

• Illustrator Honor Books: "We Are the Ship;" "The Moon Over Star" (Dial, $17.99, ages 4-8), illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and written by Dianna Aston; and "Before John Was a Jazz Giant" (Henry Holt, $16.95, ages 5-10), illustrated by Sean Qualls and written by Carol Boston Weatherford.