Blume received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation and Chicago Tribune for her lifetime literary achievements.
On May 15, 2014, Judy Blume was awarded the Carl Sandburg Literary Award by the Chicago Public Library Foundation and the Chicago Tribune, an honor recognizing a lifetime of outstanding literary achievement.
Named after the celebrated American poet and biographer Carl Sandburg, this award has historically honored authors whose work has made a lasting impact on American letters and culture. By 2014, Blume's career spanned more than four decades and included dozens of books that had become touchstones of American childhood and adolescence for multiple generations of readers.
The award ceremony celebrated not only Blume's commercial success—with over 85 million books sold worldwide by this point—but also her cultural significance as an author who had persistently challenged norms around what could be discussed in literature for young people. Her willingness to address topics like puberty, sexuality, death, divorce, and religious identity had reshaped the landscape of children's and young adult publishing.
This recognition came during a period when Blume remained an active and vocal advocate against censorship, having co-founded the National Coalition Against Censorship's Kids' Right to Read Project in 1998. The Carl Sandburg award affirmed her standing not just as a beloved children's author, but as a significant figure in American literary and cultural history whose influence extended into film adaptations, ongoing activism, and continued publishing well into her seventies.