October 20, 2013 Authors David Baldacci and James Patterson Headline Literacy Awards Event

Best-selling authors and literacy advocates David Baldacci and James Patterson are featured speakers at the 2013 Library of Congress Literacy Awards, a new program originated and sponsored by philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, on Monday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium, located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First. St. S.E., Washington, D.C.

This event, sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Recipients of the first annual awards, who were announced at the Library of Congress National Book Festival September 22, are Reach Out and Read, the David M Rubenstein Prize; 826 National, the American Prize; and PlanetRead, the International Prize.

Baldacci and Patterson, both No. 1 New York Times best-selling authors of books for adults and young people, serve on the advisory board of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards, which are administered by the Center for the Book. Baldacci is a 2011 inductee of the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame 
and winner of the 2012 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. He and his wife Michelle are founders of the Wish You Well Foundation for family and adult literacy. Patterson is the 
Children’s Choice Author of the Year Award winner (2010) 
and founder of ReadKiddoRead.com, the winner of the National Book Foundation’s
 Innovations in Reading Prize 2009. He is also a 
founding partner of the Children’s Reading Fund (UK).

“The Library of Congress Literacy Awards 2013: Best Practices,” a booklet by Washington, D.C. public librarian Micki Freeny, will be available at the ceremony. The brief review of programs of the 26 Literacy Awards semifinalist applications showcases exemplary practices from many different programs, both in the United States and globally.

Creation of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards was announced in January 2013 as a program to help support organizations working to alleviate the problems of illiteracy and aliteracy (a lack of interest in reading) both in the United States and worldwide. The awards seek to reward those organizations that have been doing exemplary, innovative and easily replicable work over a sustained period of time and to encourage new groups, organizations and individuals to become involved.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/ has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s www.Read.gov website and administers the Young Readers Center and the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov.