The Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division (PSP) of the Association of American Publishers today announced the winners of their prestigious 2007 Awards for Excellence. The smallest publisher to win an award was the Publications Office of the ASCSA. The award was given to Hesperia, now in its 76th year of publishing. The School receives a celebratory plaque. Tracey Cullen, Editor, and Sarah George Figueira, Production Manager, receive certificates. A certificate has also been awarded to Ellen McKie, designer of the template in which Hesperia has been published since 1999. Over 30 awards were given in total. This year’s awards featured new categories including three new electronic publishing awards; three new journal publishing awards; and five new “best of” book awards. For the first time, the PSP Electronic Information Committee and Journals Committee collaborated throughout the planning and judging stages to enhance and re-shape the awards by creating new categories and judging criteria. Plans call for an expanded publicity and marketing campaign for all awards winners. AAP President and CEO Pat Schroeder extended the Association’s congratulations to all of the PSP Award honorees, noting that “promoting and encouraging the dissemination of scholarship is one of AAP’s primary missions,” and highlighting the special honor of being chosen by one’s peers for these awards. This year’s panel of expert judges was made up of librarians, academics and working publishers. The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.