The Maine Student Book Award (MSBA) is given annually to the book selected by Maine students in grades four through eight as their favorite book of the year. Since Augusta school librarian Ernest Bradbury first established the Maine Student Book Award in 1989, the number of participating schools. libraries, and other student groups has grown each year.

Public librarians, school librarians, and reading teachers serve on the MSBA Committee, representing the Maine Library Association (MLA), Maine Association of School Librarians (MASL), and the Maine Reading Association (MRA). Each year, the Committee reviews nominations and compiles an annotated list of the best of current fiction and non-fiction for fourth-through-eighth graders. This bibliography serves as a valuable tool in itself, and is also the selection source from which participating students cast their votes for their favorite book of the year. Every student, teacher, parent, or librarian who completes a review form has the opportunity to share their opinions with the publishers, who are sent copies of the book reviews that are submitted to the Committee.

By keeping abreast of the most sought-after titles in their school and public collections, reviewing readers' nominations, consulting professional review sources and reading as many books as possible themselves, the MSBA Committee seeks each year to present a balanced variety of outstanding new additions to the field of literature for young readers.

Each spring, the students vote for their favorites from the list for the current academic year. When the ballots are in, the results are tallied, the year's top three titles are announced, and students across the state celebrate with readings, projects, parties and other literary events. Many school and public libraries and bookstores set up displays to highlight the year's most popular MSBA titles. Meanwhile, the Committee has compiled the new master list for the upcoming academic year, and the annual cycle begins again.