The competition for the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia was established in 1965 with an aim to support the artistic qualities and printing standard of books’ accomplishment. Since 1993 the principal organizer has been BIBIANA with an assistance of the co-organizers, i.e. the Ministry of Culture SR, the Ministry of Education SR, the Slovak National Library and the Slovak Printing Union.
Submitted books are judged by an expert jury in view of their artistic and printing values considering the interplay of all components of the book entirety. Each year the jury appoints a collection of up to 20 titles which are pronounced the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia. All involved subjects (authors, publisher and printer) are delivered a Diploma for the chosen books.
Besides, the jury grants a set of special prizes to creators of selected books:
- Award of the Ministry of Culture SR to the publisher for an overall artistic and technical quality of the book;
- Award of the Ministry of Culture SR to the author for outstanding book illustrations;
- Award of the Ministry of Culture SR to the author for an outstanding book design;
- Award of the Ministry of Culture SR to the publisher for a bibliophilic book;
- Award of the Ministry of Education SR to the publisher for a textbook;
- BIBIANA Award to the publisher for the most beautiful children’s book;
- Award of the Slovak Printing Union to the printing house for an outstanding printing processing;
- Award of the Slovak National Library for a student thesis.
