January 30, 2017 Stephen King Joins Library in Announcing Applications for the 2017 Literacy Awards

Award-winning author and literacy advocate Stephen King helped the Library of Congress today launch its call for nominations for the 2017 Library of Congress Literacy Awards. The annual awards support organizations working to promote literacy, both in the United States and worldwide, and are made possible through the generosity of David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of The Carlyle Group.

No one person or group is going to move the needle alone,” King said in a video released through the Library’s social media channels. “But together, we can make a difference.  That is why I am joining the Library of Congress in supporting the thousands of organizations around the world that are working to promote literacy."

According to UNESCO, 757 million adults around the world cannot read or write a simple sentence, and 61 million elementary-age children are not in school.

These awards, which were created and initiated by Rubenstein, encourage the continuing development of innovative methods for promoting literacy and the wide dissemination of the most effective practices. They are intended to draw public attention to the importance of literacy and the need to promote literacy and encourage reading.

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards program is administered by the Library’s Center for the Book. The Librarian of Congress will make final selection of the prizewinners with recommendations from literacy experts on an advisory board.

Three prizes will be awarded in 2017:

• The David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000) is awarded for an outstanding and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels, to an organization based either inside or outside the United States that has demonstrated exceptional and sustained depth in its commitment to the advancement of literacy.
  Last year’s Rubenstein prizewinner: WETA Reading Rockets
  
  
• The American Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels, or the national awareness of the importance of literacy, to an organization that is based in the United States.
  Last year’s American prizewinner: Parent-Child Home Program
  
  
• The International Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels, to an organization that is based outside the United States.
  Last year’s International prizewinner: Libraries Without Borders

The application rules and a downloadable application form may be accessed at www.read.gov/literacyawards/. Applications must be received no later than midnight on March 31, 2017, Eastern Time.

More information about last year’s winners and other literacy leaders is available under  “Library of Congress Literacy Awards” at http://read.gov/documents/BestPractices2016.pdf.

The Library’s Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” is a public-private partnership. It sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated state centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading promotion partners and through the Young Readers Center and the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more information, visit read.gov.

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