This post is by Judy Lee from the Library of Congress.
The Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, recognized the 2024 Literacy Award recipients for their outstanding achievements in promoting literacy and a love for reading at the Literacy Awards Annual Symposium and Recognition event on October 30, 2024. The event brought together this year’s winners and honorees, members of the Literacy Awards Advisory Board, and Library of Congress staff. “The purpose of today is twofold,” said Dr. Hayden during the awards ceremony. “The first is to celebrate your outstanding achievements and the second is to inspire one another by making meaningful connections and furthering our collective impact on promoting literacy.”
The event at the Library of Congress attracted more than 100 guests, including organizational representatives from Norway, New Zealand, Poland, and the United Kingdom. The day kicked off with a 5-minute video, created by the Library’s multimedia team, featuring the 2024 award recipients. In addition to the awards ceremony, participants exchanged ideas about how to implement different literacy initiatives and build successful programs.
Highlights of the event include:
- The David M. Rubenstein Prize was awarded to the LaundryCares Foundation for transforming laundromats and other frequently visited places into welcoming reading nooks.
- The inaugural Kislak Family Foundation Prize was awarded to Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori in New Zealand for its outsized impact on literacy relative to its size.
- Presentations by top prize winners including the Laundry Cares Foundation, Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, We Need Diverse Books and the Alsama Project. [Watch a recording of the presentations.]
- A showcase of the 15 Successful Practices Honorees who were selected for successfully elevating youth voices, empowering communities, engaging instructors and mentors, expanding support networks, and pioneering innovative approaches to literacy.
- A poster presentation featuring the recipients of the inaugural Emerging Strategies Honorees, who all have started new literacy initiatives within the last five years.
As the day concluded, participants reflected on the unique opportunity to connect with fellow literacy advocates from across the country and around the world. These reflections made it clear that the meeting had accomplished the two purposes that Dr. Hayden named in her introduction.
The Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program is sponsored by David M. Rubenstein and the Kislak Family Foundation, and administered by the Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office, a unit of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement at the Library of Congress.
Non-profit organizations, schools, libraries, government-sponsored initiatives and tribal organizations are invited to apply for the 2025 Literacy Awards beginning on January 7, 2025. For more information, visit: https://www.loc.gov/programs/library-of-congress-literacy-awards/apply/
For more information about the awards and the next application cycle, please visit www.loc.gov/literacy or send questions to [email protected].