The Library of Congress Literacy Awards program recognizes organizations that provide exemplary, innovative, and replicable strategies to promote literacy in the United States and abroad. The awards are intended to draw public attention to the importance of literacy and to encourage reading.
Nonprofit organizations, schools, libraries, government-sponsored initiatives, and tribal organizations are invited to apply. The Library of Congress will make the final selection of the prize winners with recommendations from an advisory board of literacy experts.
Four top prizes will be awarded in 2026:
- The David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000), for an outstanding and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels, 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 Kislak Family Prize ($100,000) is awarded to an organization based either in the United States or abroad with an outsized impact on literacy relative to its size and/or years of operation.
- The American Prize ($50,000) is awarded to an organization based in the United States that demonstrates a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels or the national awareness of the importance of literacy.
- The International Prize ($50,000), for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in a country other than the United States, is awarded to an organization that is based either in the United States or abroad.
Up to 15 additional organizations will also be honored for their successful practices in various areas of literacy promotion. Each successful practices honoree will receive $10,000.
Finally, the program will award $5,000 each to up to five additional literacy initiatives in their early stages of development. These initiatives should demonstrate significant creativity and promise in their approach to promoting literacy.
Online applications should be received by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on February 17, 2026. Winners and honorees will be announced in September 2026. The application form and evaluation criteria may be accessed here.