The Contemporary Book Award goes to the best book of photographs published between 1 June 2011 and 31 May 2012. The winner receives 8,000 euros. The award is organised with the backing of the Fnac chain. The Historical Book Award goes to the best thematic book or monograph published between 1 June 2011 and 31 May 2012. The winner receives 8,000 euros. The winners of the Book Awards are chosen during the Opening Week by the nominators for the Discovery Prize 2012, Rencontres d’Arles president Jean-Noël Jeanneney and one of the booksellers of the Fnac chain. The books received will participate in the forming of new archives and collections, which are different each year. Hence, the books received this year will enrich the library of the Market Photo Workshop, a photography school and gallery created in Johannesburg by David Goldblatt in 1989. In 2010, the books received in 2009 have been offered to the Three Shadows Photography Art Center's library in Beijing, the Rencontres d’Arles and the Caochangdi Photospring Festival - Arles in Beijing having started a 3-year-collaboration. In 2011, the books received have been offered to the CAMM's library (Conservatoire des Arts et des Métiers Multimédia Balla Fasseké Kouyaté) in Mali, within the 8th edition of the Rencontres de Bamako, the African photo biennale.