Category Archives: Reading Promotion

Apply for Literacy Awards

Applications are being accepted for the 2021 Library of Congress Literacy Awards from Jan. 15 to March 5. The awards are made possible through the generosity of philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.

The Literacy Awards — established by the Library of Congress and Rubenstein — were first conferred in 2013 to honor and support organizations working to promote literacy both in the United States and abroad. The awards encourage the continuing development of innovative methods for promoting literacy and the dissemination of the most successful practices.

The awards are intended to draw public attention to the importance of literacy and the need to promote literacy and encourage reading. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will make the final selection of the prize winners with recommendations from an advisory board of literacy experts.

Three prizes will be awarded in 2021:

  • The David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000) is awarded for an outstanding and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels. The prize is awarded to an organization based either in the United States or abroad that has demonstrated exceptional and sustained depth in its commitment to the advancement of literacy.
  • 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. The prize is awarded to an organization that is based in the United States.
  • The International Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in a country other than the United States. The prize is awarded to an organization that is based either in the United States or abroad.

Other organizations will be honored for their successful practices in various areas of literacy promotion.

The application rules and a downloadable application form may be accessed at read.gov/literacyawards. Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 5, 2021.

A live webinar on the application process will be held on Jan. 28 from 3 – 4 p.m. ET. Please visit www.read.gov/literacyawards/apply.html for details about registering. Attendees must register in advance. The webinar will be recorded and made available on the Literacy Awards webpage.

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program is administered by the Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office, a unit of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement at the Library of Congress.

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.

 

Library of Congress Literacy Awards

Through the generosity of philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program honors nonprofit organizations that have made outstanding contributions to increasing literacy in the United States or abroad. The awards also 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.

Since 2013, the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program has awarded $2,247,250 million in prizes to 136 institutions in 36 countries. By recognizing current achievements, the awards seek to enable any organization or program that does not operate on a for-profit basis to strengthen its involvement in literacy and reading promotion and to encourage collaboration with like-minded organizations.

Prizes

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. The organization will meet the highest standards of excellence in its operations and services.

The American Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in the United States or the national awareness of the importance of literacy to an organization that is based in the United States.

The International Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in a country other than the United States to an organization that is based either inside or outside the United States.

Best Practice Honorees ($5,000): Each year up to 15 organizations that apply in the three major prize categories are recognized for their successful implementation of a specific literacy promotion practice.

Winners

The 2020 winners and their efforts were celebrated in December, and are showcased at http://read.gov/literacyawards/index.html. Application information for the 2021 literacy awards will be available at this same website by late January.

Why Apply?

  • Receive cash awards and public recognition for your work.
  • Network with other award recipients.

Summer Reading Program Research

The National Summer Learning Project (NSLP) examined the implementation and effectiveness of voluntary summer learning programs developed by five school districts—Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Duval County, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Rochester, New York—and their local community partners. The study spanned three phases. The RAND research team (1) collected formative data for strengthening the five summer programs in 2011 and 2012; (2) examined student outcomes after one summer (2013) and after two summers of programming (2014 and 2015); and (3) examined student outcomes in spring 2017, at the end of three school years after the second summer of programming.

This seventh report in a series summarizes the findings of this third phase in the context of earlier findings and offers implications for policy and practice. Student outcomes tracked in Phases II and III included mathematics and language arts performance, social-emotional skills as measured by teachers, and school-year behaviors (e.g., school-year attendance, suspensions).

Overall long-term findings were that academic benefits for attenders decreased in magnitude three school years after the second summer of programming and were not statistically significant; however, when benchmarked against typical achievement gains at the same grade level, they remained large enough to be educationally meaningful.

Free download of the report is available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3201.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NPA:2627:6554:Dec%2018,%202020%205:32:38%20AM%20PST&utm_campaign=NPA:2627:6554:Dec%2018,%202020%205:32:38%20AM%20PST

International Literacy Day Today!

On 8 September 2020, UNESCO will celebrate International Literacy Day under the theme ‘Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond’. The global virtual event, organized together with UIL, invites stakeholders to discuss how innovative and effective pedagogies and teaching methodologies can be used in youth and adult literacy programmes to face the pandemic. Learn more

Carmen Deedy event

The Library of Congress’s Homegrown series (Aug 19 at 12 noon)  might be of special interest to teachers, school librarians or others interested in stories of literacy or the impact of learning. Carmen Deedy, a children’s author and national known storyteller who has appeared at many National Boo Festival events, and been an opening night speaker for at least one of them, is telling a story about how her father learned to read in Cuba and the effect it has had on future generations of his family. Here is the link:

https://www.loc.gov/concerts/folklife/carmen-agra-deedy.html

Many folks will know some of Carmen’s books, like the Library Dragon, Margarita the Beautiful Cockroach, The Rooster Who Would Not be Quiet, which was read online (Facebook) April 9 by Lin Manuel Miranda.