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A group of about a dozen smiling adults and children holding up copies of books.

The Library’s 2025 Literacy Award Winners

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Literacy Partners, a 52-year-old New York City nonprofit that works with families, both parents and children, won the top prize in the 2025 Library of Congress Literacy Awards, taking home the $150,000 David M. Rubenstein Prize. Since 2013, the Literacy Awards have handed out 247 prizes, totaling more than $4.3 million, all from philanthropic donations. More than 200 organizations from 42 countries have been recognized for their work.

The words "National Book Festival" above a large number 25 are spelled out across the orange spines of several books.

The National Book Festival’s 25th Edition!

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The National Book Festival’s 25th edition returns to D.C. on September 6 with a stellar list of novelists, historians, poets, young-adult and childrens authors, more than 90 in all. You’ll see novelists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Scott Turow and Jess Walter; non-fiction authors such as Ron Chernow, Jill Lepore and Geraldine Brooks; and Academy …

Half portrait of Bill Moyers, smiling, turned slightly to the camera, smiling. He's wearing a dark suit, a blue shirt and a red tie.

Bill Moyers: A Lifetime Preserved at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Bill Moyers, who died yesterday at the age of 91, was at the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium one night in the fall of 2023 to mark the preservation of more than 1,000 of his public television programs in The American Archive of Public Broadcasting. a collaboration between the Library and GBH, the public media production company in Boston. It was a crowning night to one of the most influential careers in American media.

Color portrait of Mac Bennett, seated, leaning forward with his forearms resting on his knees, looking to his left at the camera.

Mac Barnett Named New National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Mac Barnett, the bestselling author of more than 60 children's books, including “Twenty Questions,” “Sam & Dave Dig a Hole,” “A Polar Bear in the Snow” as well as the “Mac B., Kid Spy” series, will be inaugurated today as the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. 

Medium length photo of Rubenstein standing in front of Joe Biden as the president drapes a medal around his neck.

David Rubenstein, Chair of the Library’s Madison Council, Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posted by: Carla D. Hayden

"On Saturday, Jan. 4, Library of Congress James Madison Council chair David M. Rubenstein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. This is a crowning achievement for his passionate support of our nation’s history and culture and the arts." -- A special blog from Librarian Carla D. Hayden

Wide shot of a rocket lifting off, with clouds of smoke and fire at its base, headed into a crystal blue sky.

NASA and the Library Send Poetry into Space

Posted by: Brett Zongker

NASA's Europa Clipper has set sail for a moon of Jupiter to explore the possibilies of life. Launced last week, the craft carries a metal vault plate inscribed with the poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” by Ada Limón, the national poet laureate. NASA, Limón and the Library invited people worldwide to sign on to the poem and send their names to space with it on a microchip. More than 2.6 million people did so. Their names, alongside the poem, are aboard the Clipper for a six year journey to Europa.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in black and white half portrait, stands behind a table, leafing through a large book, with a painted portait of a judge behind her

Sandra Day O’Connor Papers Now Open for Research

Posted by: Neely Tucker

A major portion of the papers of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, consisting of approximately 600 containers, opened for research use this week. Housed in the Manuscript Division, the collection documents the trajectory of O’Connor’s life in politics and law in Arizona and, later, as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first woman justice.