News from the Library of Congress

September 2023

April 2023

  • April 24, 2023  (23-040)
    U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Appointed for a Historic Two-Year Second Term Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has appointed Ada Limón to serve a two-year second term as the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.The act of Congress establishing the poet laureate position states that the Librarian may appoint a laureate “for one- or two-year terms.” This is the first time a laureate will serve the longer option. Limón’s second term will begin in September...
    • Date: 2023-04-24

December 2022

  • December 5, 2022  (22-108)
    Library to Celebrate Jason Reynolds' Three Years as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature The Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader will celebrate the end of Jason Reynolds’ unprecedented three-year term as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature with local students in the Washington, D.C., area on Dec. 13.“Jason Reynolds’ tenure as National Ambassador has been nothing short of magic,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “For three years, Jason toured the country, empowering students to...
    • Date: 2022-12-05

July 2022

  • July 12, 2022  (22-060)
    Librarian of Congress Names Ada Limón the Nation's 24th U.S. Poet Laureate Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced the appointment of Ada Limón as the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2022-2023. Limón will take up her duties in the fall, opening the Library’s annual literary season on Sept. 29 with a reading of her work in the Coolidge Auditorium.“Ada Limón is a poet who connects,” Hayden said. “Her accessible, engaging poems ground...
    • Date: 2022-07-12

January 2022

November 2021

  • November 9, 2021  (21-070)
    Danielle Allen to Receive Kluge Prize, Deliver Address on Educating for Democracy On Tuesday, Nov. 16, Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project at Harvard University, will accept the John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity in a livestreamed gala from the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.The livestream will begin at 6:30 p.m., and can be found at this link.Allen will deliver an address...
    • Date: 2021-11-09

December 2020

  • December 3, 2020  (20-080)
    Library Awards Bobbitt Poetry Prizes to Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey The Library of Congress will award the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry to Terrance Hayes, for his book “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin,” and to former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey for lifetime achievement.The poets will receive their honors during a virtual ceremony Thursday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. ET on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and...
    • Date: 2020-12-03

October 2020

  • October 20, 2020  (20-068)
    Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film Awarded to "Hold Your Fire," Directed by Stefan Forbes The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced that the second annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film has been awarded to “Hold Your Fire,” a new film directed by Stefan Forbes (“Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story”). The film will receive a $200,000 award.Produced by Amir Soltani and Tia Wou, "Hold Your Fire"...
    • Date: 2020-10-20

June 2020

  • June 22, 2020  (20-043)
    Library of Congress to Award Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity to Danielle Allen Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, will receive the 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity.Allen will collaborate with the Library on an initiative she has designed, titled “Our Common Purpose—A Campaign for Civic Strength at...
    • Date: 2020-06-22

January 2020

  • January 13, 2020  (20-002)
    Jason Reynolds Named New National Ambassador for Young People's Literature The Library of Congress, the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader today announced the appointment of Jason Reynolds as the seventh National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2020-2021. The Newbery Honor recipient succeeds Jacqueline Woodson, who served as National Ambassador in 2018-2019.Reynolds is the author of 13 books for young people including his most recent, “Look Both Ways: A Tale Told...
    • Date: 2020-01-13

November 2018

  • November 1, 2018  (18-127)
    Poet Jorie Graham to Receive 2018 Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry The Library of Congress will award the 2018 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry to Jorie Graham for her 2017 book “Fast.”Graham, who is the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University, will receive the award and read selections from her work at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, in the Library’s James Madison Memorial Building, Mumford Room, 101 Independence Ave....
    • Date: 2018-11-01

March 2018

  • March 22, 2018  (18-034)
    Librarian of Congress Appoints Tracy K. Smith to Second Term as Poet Laureate Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has appointed Tracy K. Smith to serve a second term as the nation’s 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2018-2019. During her second year, Smith will expand her outreach efforts to rural communities and unveil a new anthology to be published in the fall. “I am thrilled that Tracy K. Smith has accepted my invitation to continue sharing...
    • Date: 2018-03-22

August 2017

  • August 15, 2017  (17-106)
    Library to Host Appointment Ceremony of 2017 National Student Poets The Library of Congress will host the appointment ceremony of the sixth class of the National Student Poets Program, honoring five outstanding youth poets from across the United States for their original work, on Thursday, August 31. The National Student Poets, who represent five different regions of the country, will read original works as part of the ceremony, which will be led by Librarian...
    • Date: 2017-08-15

September 2016

  • September 14, 2016  (16-161)
    Carla D. Hayden Sworn In as 14th Librarian of Congress Carla D. Hayden, longtime chief executive of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system in Baltimore and a former president of the American Library Association, was sworn in today as the 14th Librarian of Congress, for a renewable 10-year term, by Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr.
    • Date: 2016-09-14

March 2016

  • March 8, 2016  (16-041)
    Library of Congress to Honor Mario Vargas Llosa The Library of Congress will present its Living Legend award to Mario Vargas Llosa, the renowned Peruvian novelist, journalist, public intellectual and political commentator on April 11.
    • Date: 2016-03-08

November 2015

October 2015

  • October 2, 2015  (15-176)
    National Collegiate Book-Collecting Contest Winners Announced The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division, along with the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, the Fellowship of American Bibliographic Societies and the Grolier Club have announced the winners.
    • Date: 2015-10-02

October 2014

  • October 2, 2014  (14-177)
    Library of Congress Literacy Awards to Be Presented Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will deliver opening remarks, and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein will make a keynote address during the second annual Library of Congress Literacy Awards presentation ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m. in room LJ-119.
    • Date: 2014-10-02

May 2012

December 2008

September 2008

  • September 17, 2008  (08-154)
    Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature to be Presented at the Library of Congress Oct. 4 Authors Pat Mora and Laura Resau and illustrator Rafael Lopez will receive the 2007 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the 15th annual award presentation hosted by the Library of Congress on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C.
    • Date: 2008-09-17
  • September 8, 2008  (08-151)
    Distinguished Readers To Hono Herman Wouk During Literary Award Event on Sept. 10 The acclaimed writer Herman Wouk will receive the first Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction. New York Times columnist William Safire, ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg and musician Jimmy Buffett are among the distinguished guests who will read from the works of Herman Wouk during this event, which...
    • Date: 2008-09-08
  • September 2, 2008  (08-144)
    Singer/Songwriter Stevie Wonder Named Recipient of Library of Congress Gershwin Prize Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today named singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder—who burst on the scene in the early 1960s as a musical prodigy, and whose dance hits and love songs segued over the years into thoughtful commentaries on the joy and injustice in our world—as the recipient of the Second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The award presentation will take place...
    • Date: 2008-09-02
  • September 2, 2008  (08-147)
    Distinguished Readers To Honor Herman Wouk During Literary Award Event on Sept. 10 The acclaimed writer Herman Wouk will receive the first Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction. New York Times columnist William Safire, ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz and musician Jimmy Buffett are among the distinguished guests who will read from the works of Herman Wouk during this event, which is free and open to the public.
    • Date: 2008-09-02

August 2008

March 2008

  • March 19, 2008  (08-050)
    Library of Congress, Bantam Books Honor Louis L'Amour Louis L’Amour, one of the most prolific and bestselling writers of all time, has been honored by the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress as its inaugural “Champion of the Book”—a unique designation reserved for those who have made an important contribution to the world of books.
    • Date: 2008-03-19

October 2007

  • October 22, 2007  (07-211)
    W.S. Merwin, Winner of the Bobbitt Poetry Prize, Will Read, Oct. 31 Celebrated poet W.S. Merwin will receive the 2006 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry and read selections of his work at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.
    • Date: 2007-10-22

September 2007

  • September 17, 2007  (07-179)
    Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature To Be Presented on Oct. 6 Authors Margarita Engle and Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren and illustrators Sean Qualls and Nicole Tadgell will receive the 2006 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the 14th annual award presentation hosted by the Library of Congress from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 6, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E.,...
    • Date: 2007-09-17

August 2007

  • August 17, 2007  (07-150)
    Folklorist Archie Green Honored with Living Legend Award The Library of Congress honored labor folklorist and American Folklife Center founding father Archie Green with its Living Legend medal at a special evening concert on Aug. 16. Accepting on his behalf was his son, Derek Green.
    • Date: 2007-08-17

March 2007

November 2006

September 2005

  • September 26, 2005  (05-205)
    Library of Congress to Host 2004 Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Presentation of the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs to Monica Brown and Rafael López (illustrator) for their book “My Name Is Celia/Me Llamo Celia” (Flagstaff: Luna Rising, 2004) and to Benjamin Alire Sáenz for his book “Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood” (El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press, 2004).
    • Date: 2005-09-26

April 2005

May 2004

October 2003

  • October 16, 2003  (03-178)
    Folk Icon Odetta to Perform on Nov. 13 The American Folklife Center will present the legendary singer Odetta in a special concert at the Library of Congress, at 8 p.m., Nov. 13, in the Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.
    • Date: 2003-10-16

May 2003

  • May 20, 2003  (03-091)
    Library of Congress Guide to Women's History Resources Garners Kanner Award "American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States" has been selected to receive the Barbara Penny Kanner Award for best bibliographical work in historical context published in 2001 or 2002. The award, which confers a prize of $500, will be presented to the Library by the Western Association of Women Historians at the...
    • Date: 2003-05-20

November 2000

  • November 22, 2000  (00-188)
    David Ferry Wins 2000 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry David Ferry, Sophie Chantal Hart Professor Emeritus at Wellesley College, has been awarded the 2000 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for his book Of No Country I Know: New and Selected Poems and Translations (1999, University of Chicago Press).The $10,000 award will be presented on Monday evening, December 18. Mr. Ferry will read from his Bobbitt Prize-winning collection that evening at 8...
    • Date: 2000-11-22