Three Literacy Awards Announced by LC

Three new awards were announced at the International Summit of the Book yesterday: Here is an excerpt a from the press release:

The trio of annual awards will include the David M. Rubenstein Prize for a groundbreaking contribution to the sustained advancement of literacy by any individual or entity worldwide; the American Prize, honoring a project developed and deployed in the United States during the preceding decade with special emphasis on combating aliteracy; and the International Prize, which would honor the outstanding work of an individual, a nation or a non-governmental organization (NGO) working in a specific country or region.

"The Library of Congress joins the nation and the world in gratitude for this latest expression of David Rubenstein’s support for the life of the mind," said James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress. "David has long supported the popular National Book Festival, has made it possible for us to display the historic Abel Buell map of America and has been generous with the Library and the American people in many other ways," Dr. Billington said. "This new set of awards will invigorate those who understand the value of literacy to critical thinking and how essential it is to living and good government."

The literacy awards program will be managed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Final selection of prize winners will be made by the Librarian of Congress, who will solicit recommendations from literacy experts on a National Advisory Board to be established for the program. Criteria for the prizes include innovation, replicability, sustainability, measurable impact and demonstration of reliance on existing professional literature and applied practice.

The first winners will be announced in 2013 at the second annual International Summit of the Book, which will be held in Singapore on August 16, 2013.