Read this post from the Teaching with the Library blog and spread the word about this opportunity for up to five  organizations established within the past five years that show promise in supporting literacy!

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!