The Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program is excited to introduce two new prize categories this year. 

Thanks to the generosity of the Kislak Family Foundation, the Literacy Awards Program will award up to an additional $200,000 in the form of two new prize categories and by doubling the impact of the Successful Practices Honoree category, for a total of up to $525,000 in cash prizes. The new Kislak Family Foundation Prize ($100,000) will be awarded to an organization based either inside or outside of the United States with an outsized impact on literacy relative to its size and/or years of operation. Additionally, the new Emerging Strategies Honorees prize category will award $5,000 for up to five organizations that are in their early stages of development (operating for 5 or less years). 

Learn more about the new prize categories on today's Teaching with the Library blog post.

The Literacy Awards Program is accepting applications now through February 19, 2024. Visit the Literacy Awards website for more information about the application process and to download the application forms.

Register for the January 16th Applicant Information Session where potential applicants can learn about the new prize categories and application process, as well as ask questions to members of the Advisory Board and Literacy Awards staff.

Please feel free to email literacyawards@loc.gov or comment below with questions!

Last Friday, September 8, 2023, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden announced the recipients of this year's Literacy Awards winners and honorees. The Literacy Awards program, sponsored by David M. Rubenstein since 2013, honors organizations that provide exemplary, innovative and replicable strategies to combat illiteracy. For more than 10 years, the Library of Congress has recognized the urgent need to achieve universal literacy through the program.

Top prizes for the 2023 Literacy Awards were awarded to The News Literacy Project, Downtown Boxing Gym and Worldreader.

An additional 15 organizations were recognized for their successful practices in literacy programming:

• Ako Aotearoa’s Manako Program; Wellington, New Zealand
• Book Love Foundation; North Conway, New Hampshire
• BookSpring; Austin, Texas
• Building Tomorrow; Indianapolis, Indiana
• Compassion Books; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Dominican Literacy Center, Aurora; Aurora, Illinois
• Get Lit – Words Ignite’s Uni(verse) Program; Los Angeles, California
• An Open Book Foundation; Washington, D.C.
• Pakistan Alliance for Girls Education (PAGE); Islamabad, Pakistan
• PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools); London, United Kingdom
• Queens Borough Public Library; Queens, New York
• Rio Grande Valley Literacy Center; Pharr, Texas
• Virginia Children’s Book Festival; Keysville, Virginia
• WISE Zambia; Phoenix, Arizona
• Yayasan Sulinama’s Collaboration with INOVASI; Ambon, Indonesia

To learn more about this year's outstanding winners and honorees, check out:

• 2023 Winners and Honorees Story Map
• Interactive Map highlighting all of the literacy organizations around the world that have been recognized by the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program
• View the full list of Literacy Awards recipients since 2013

Congratulations to this year's winners and honorees!

Join us for the last webinar celebrating the 2022 Literacy Awards Program Winners and Successful Practice Honorees.

This webinar will take place next Thursday, April 20th; 3:00-4:30PM EST, for the Advancing Adult Literacy in the United States webinar (Register Here!). This session will be moderated by Lauren Sproull, Vice President of Communications at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, 2021 Successful Practices Honoree. The panel will feature the following organizations:

• Dionne Kirby, CEO, Literacy Achieves
• Blake McDaniel, Chairperson of Literacy Action's Board, Literacy Action
• Jennifer Peterson, Associate Director, Literacy Network

Want to know more about these outstanding organizations before the webinar? Read about Literacy Achieves, Literacy Action, and Literacy Network on Teaching with the Library blog post, "Two Questions with Literacy Achieves, Literacy Action, and Literacy Network, 2022 Literacy Awards Successful Practice Honorees."

Interested in coming to the event? Do you have questions for our panelists? Feel free to comment below or email us at literacyawards@loc.gov.

Photos courtesy of Literacy Action, Literacy Achieves, Literacy Network

  literacy    free webinar    Literacy Awards Program    Advancing Adult Literacy    free webinar   

The Literacy Awards Program continues to produce webinars with the 2022 Winners and Successful Practice Honorees. Representatives from each award recipient will discuss a variety of themes such as promoting a culture of reading, advancing adult literacy in the United States, engaging with local communities, and nurturing partnerships in the nonprofit literacy world. The webinars take place on the third Thursday of every month.

Join us this Thursday, March 16, 2023; 3:00-4:30PM EST, for the Promoting a Culture of Reading webinar (Register Here!). This session will be moderated by Erin Bailey, Director of Programs and Content at Reading is Fundamental, the 2013 Successful Practices Honoree and 2018 David M. Rubenstein Prize winner. The panel will feature the following organizations:

• Marie Kovar, Ed.S., Director of School Support, DIBS for Kids

• Leib Lurie, CEO, Kids Read Now

• Dr. Susanne Nobles, Chief Academic Officer, ReadWorks

• Dr. David Parker, V.P. of Research and Development, ServeMinnesota

Do you have questions for our panelists? Feel free to comment below or email us at literacyawards@loc.gov.

   literacy    free webinar    Literacy Awards Program    Promoting a Culture of Reading  

Photo courtesy of ReadWorks, Inc.

Those who missed the February 2nd Literacy Awards Applicant Information Session, can now watch a recording of the session. Click here to view the 56-minute recording. Jump to 35:19 for the Q&A portion of the information session.

There are just two weeks left to submit a Literacy Awards application! In addition to watching the recording linked above, visit the Literacy Awards website to download the blank application form and view answers to Frequently Asked Questions. It isn't too late to start the application now!

To apply, non-profit organizations must submit the completed application plus 2 letters of recommendation to literacyawards@loc.gov by 11:59pm ET on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Organizations may be based in the U.S. or abroad.  

The Literacy Awards Program continues to produce webinars with the 2022 Winners and Successful Practice Honorees. Representatives from each award recipient will discuss a variety of themes such as promoting a culture of reading, advancing adult literacy in the United States, engaging with local communities, and nurturing partnerships in the nonprofit literacy world. The webinars take place on the third Thursday of every month.

Join us this Thursday, February 16, 2023; 3:00-4:30PM EST, for the Engaging Local Communities webinar (Register Here!). This session will be moderated by Debra Gittler, Founder and Executive Director at ConTextos (2019 International Prize Winner) and will feature the following panelists:

•   Catherine DeLaura  , Executive Director, DREAM Project

• Reshma Patel, Executive Director, Impact Network

• Anna Soravito, Education Programme Coordinator, Concern Worldwide Niger

Do you have questions for our panelists? Feel free to comment below or email us at literacyawards@loc.gov.

  literacy    promote literacy    free webinar    literacy awards    engaging local communities  

WANT TO HOST MEG MEDINA AT YOUR SCHOOL OR LIBRARY IN 2023? 

Every Child a Reader and the Library of Congress are currently accepting proposal submissions from schools, public and school libraries, and other community organizations interested in hosting an official event with Meg Medina, the 8th National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. 

Meg will travel throughout the country, connecting with young readers, libraries, families, and communities with her platform “Cuéntame!: Let’s Talk Books.” 

Proposals for 2023 National Ambassador visits, to take place April through December of 2023, will be accepted from February 7 to March 7.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Please carefully review the event and proposal information and use the downloadable checklist to gather all information before completing the online form.

Information and Checklist.

VISIT COMPONENTS

Each visit will include an Evening Public Library Visit and a Daytime School Visit. We ask that all participating organizations coordinate to submit a single, unified proposal.

See further details.

ABOUT MEG MEDINA

Medina, a Cuban-American, is the first author of Latina heritage to serve as National Ambassador in the program’s history.

Medina’s books examine how culture and identity intersect through the eyes of young people. Her middle-grade novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears, the first of three books in a trilogy about the Suárez family, received the 2019 Newbery Medal and was named a notable children’s book of the year by the New York Times Book Review. Her most recent picture book, Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, received multiple honors, including the 2021-2022 Charlotte Zolotow Award. Raised in Queens, New York, Medina now lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.

Read more and watch her inauguration.

Are you a part of - or know of - an organization doing exceptional literacy work? Are you interested in learning more about the Literacy Awards Program application process? Join us this Thursday to learn about the Literacy Awards application and Evaluation Criteria. Register today!

During this session, Literacy Awards staff and Advisory Board Members will review application requirements and respond to questions about the application.

The 2023 application cycle opened on January 11, 2023, and will closer at 11:59 PM EST on March 1, 2023. The Literacy Awards Advisory Board will review applications and make award recommendations. Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, will make award decisions and the 2023 winners and honorees will be announced on International Literacy Day, September 8, 2023!

Have questions about the Literacy Awards? Put them in the comments below!

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Today, the Library of Congress appointed one of our Literacy Awards Advisory Board members,   Meg Medina  , as the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature! 

The Library of Congress established the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Program in 2008 to emphasize the connection between young people’s literature and lifelong literacy, education, and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. Meg, the first Latina to hold this position, will travel the country and inspire young readers of all ages to discuss books, engage in story-telling, and discover authors from a diverse range of genres, as well as encourage relationship-building between families and young people and their local libraries over the next two years.

Meg is a New York Times best-selling author and recipient of numerous awards including the 2019 John Newbery Medal and 2019 Charlotte Huck Honor Book for her book in the Suárez family trilogy, Merci Suárez Changes Gears. 

Read more about Meg’s outstanding achievement and her vision for her new role in today’s press release, and watch as Dr. Hayden inaugurates Meg as the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature on Tuesday, January 24 at 10:30AM ET. The event will be livestreamed here.