November 29, 2021 Library of Congress Celebrates Successful Literacy Practices with New Video and Four-Part Webinar Series
Press Contact: Elaina Finkelstein, efinkelstein@loc.gov

The 2021 Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners and Honorees are featured in a new video available on the Library’s website, and representatives from all of the selected organizations will participate in a four-part webinar series that will debut this winter.
The Literacy Awards, originated by David M. Rubenstein in 2013, honor organizations working to promote literacy and reading in the United States and worldwide. The awards recognize groups doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work, and they spotlight the need for the global community to unite in striving for universal literacy. The video and the webinar series highlight these efforts.
Each of the four live webinars will focus on a unique literacy-related topic, will be facilitated by a member of the Literacy Awards Advisory Board, and will feature panelists representing the organizations that received recognition this year. Webinar participants will have the opportunity to interact with the panelists and submit questions. The events will take place on Zoom from 3 to 4:30 p.m. ET, the second Thursday of four consecutive months, between December 2021 and March 2022. Registration for all four sessions is now open.
These webinars will be ideal viewing for educators, librarians, literacy professionals and anyone interested in effective practices for promoting literacy and encouraging reading.
The webinars include:
Dec. 9, 2021: Serving Adult Literacy Needs
Featuring:
- Loriene Roy, Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board Member
- Carol Clymer; Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy
- Josh Evans, CEO of The Learning Source
- Bonnie Entler; President and CEO of Seeds of Literacy
- Marty Finsterbusch; Executive Director of VALUEUSA
To register, visit: https://loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_6xQKw6AuTMKsThrlhZKxkA
Jan. 13, 2022: Literacy Education Beyond the Classroom
Featuring:
- Don Vu, Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board member
- Caitlin Baron, CEO of The Luminous Fund
- Constance Gully, president and CEO of Parents as Teachers National Center
- British A. Robinson, president and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
- Eric Nesheim, executive director of Literacy Minnesota
To register, visit: https://loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_RzJrsWJYQySq06gaL-viBQ
Feb. 10, 2022: Places and Spaces to Grow Literacy
Featuring:
- Allister Chang, Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board member
- Nora Briggs, executive director (for North America) of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
- Robin Adelson, executive director of Books for Kids Foundation
- Sharon O’Brien, artistic director and founder of Stories that Soar at Literacy Connects
- Michelle Torgerson, president and CEO of Raising a Reader
- Nadia Naviwala, global partnerships adviser at The Citizens Foundation
To register, visit: https://loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_MBi78a2iSzeRW1yCqo_1fQ
March 10, 2022: Culturally Relevant Literacy Approaches
Featuring:
- Gholdy Muhammad, Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board Member
- Chiara Collette, program manager at Friends of Tonga, Inc.
- Anasthasie Liberiste-Osirus, Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child
- Dorothy Dyer, program manager at FunDza Literacy Trust
- Mamadou Amadou Ly, director of Associates in Research and Education for Development (ARED)
To register, visit: https://loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_9LWr3R9QRJyk67wvoVDeCg
Additional information about the awards and previous winners, as well as an interactive program map are available at https://www.loc.gov/programs/library-of-congress-literacy-awards/about-this-program/.
David M. Rubenstein is the co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group. He is a major benefactor of the Library of Congress and the chairman of the Library’s lead donor group, the James Madison Council.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at Congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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PR 21-072
2021-11-30
ISSN 0731-3527