Each year, a committee of faculty, staff, students, and community partners convene to select an intellectually stimulating, interdisciplinary book by a living author that appeals to a wide range of readers and can be incorporated into the UCSB curriculum. Each committee member suggests two titles to the longlist, which is narrowed down by vote to the "shortlist". The final book is chosen by vote from these five titles.
| Ingrid | Bowman | Faculty, Linguistics |
| Somayeh | Dodge | Faculty, Geography |
| Brian | Donnelly | Faculty, English |
| Jessica | Dubrovner | UCSB Undergraduate Student |
| Kaaronica | Evans-Ware | UCSB Graduate Student, English |
| Margaret | Fisher | UCSB Graduate Student, English |
| David | Gartrell | UCSB Librarian |
| Allison | Gray | Director, Goleta Valley Public Library |
| Michelle | Grue | Faculty, College of Creative Studies and Writing Program |
| Tomoyuki | Ichiba | Faculty, Statistics & Applied Probability |
| Derek | Katz | Faculty, Music |
| Erin | Khue Ninh | Faculty, Asian American Studies |
| Rebecca | Metzger | Associate University Librarian for Learning & Engagement, UCSB Library |
| Erin | Nerstad | Associate Director, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center |
| Sharleen | O'Brien | Director, UCSB Health and Wellness |
| Caitlin | O'Hara |
Director of Public Lectures & Special Initiatives, UCSB Arts & Lectures |
| Behrooz | Parhami | Faculty, Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Kathy | Patterson | Faculty, Writing Program |
| Andrew | Plantinga | Faculty, Bren School |
| Alex | Regan | Events & Exhibitions Librarian, UCSB Library |