Library of Congress Literacy Awards Publishes 2015 Best Practices

Library of Congress Literacy Awards Publishes 2015 Best Practices

News from the Library of Congress: 12.01.2015

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards program, now in its third year, has just published "Best Practices 2015," a review of the outstanding work in the field of literacy being done by the three 2015 Literacy Awards award winners and 14 additional organizations that are successfully implementing best practices in literacy and reading promotion.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress administers the program, which is made possible by the generosity of David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group and a major donor to the Library of Congress, including its annual National Book Festival.

The Literacy Awards advisory board reviewed applications received from 22 U.S. states and 24 countries. The Librarian of Congress made the final selections.

"Best Practices 2015" focuses on five evidence-based practices that have been shown to promote literacy. The 14 profiled groups are effectively implementing these practices to support their literacy programming.

The report can be accessed on the Center for the Book's website.  

The winners of the 2015 Library of CongressLiteracy Awards were announced on Oct. 28. They are:

The David M. Rubenstein Prize: First Book (Washington, D.C.) ($150,000)

The American Prize: United Through Reading (San Diego) ($50,000)

The International Prize: Beanstalk (United Kingdom) ($50,000)

The 14 honorees cited and the practices for which they were recognized are:

Working with Government Policymakers

Stiftung Lesen (Mainz, Germany)

National Resource Center for Non-Formal Education (Kathmandu, Nepal)

Kazakhstan Reading Association (Karagandy, Kazakhstan)

Creating a Community of Literacy

Little Free Library (Hudson, Wisconsin)

Family Reading Partnership (Ithaca, New York)

Literacy Alberni Society (Port Alberni, Canada)

Selecting Appropriate Language of Instruction

Worldreader (Barcelona, Spain)

Book Aid International (London)

Literacy Council of Montgomery County (Rockville, Maryland)

Literacy in Service of Social Goals

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop (Washington, D.C.)

Alif Laila Book Bus Society (Lahore, Pakistan)

Escuela Santo Niño Jesús, Fe y Alegria (Batey Lecheria, Dominican Republic)

Providing Access to Readers with Physical Disabilities

Men with a Message (Smyrna, Delaware)

Picsterbooks(Johannesburg, South Africa)