Innovations in Reading Prize, 2009
Each year, the National Book Foundation awards a number of prizes of up to $2,500 each to individuals and institutions--or partnerships between the two--that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.
Overview
The Foundation's first year of offering the Innovations in Reading Prize (IRP) saw 150 applications from 30 states. Applications fell into the following categories:
Education & Community Outreach
Tools & Technology
Schools & School Libraries
Public & University Libraries
Literary Magazines & Publishers
Book Clubs, Reading Series & Performance
Individuals
A selection process was created based on the following criteria: level of innovation, impact and need, with innovation always carrying the most weight. Impact and need came into play only in cases where two programs were judged to be equally innovative. “Innovation” was not limited to meaning only technologically innovative. In some cases, innovation meant identifying a need in the community and developing a program to address that need in a simple and effective way. In all cases, selections were made to reward programs that create and sustain a life long love of reading
Innovations in Reading Prize winners
Fathers
Bridging the Miles
(a program of Read to Me International)
Read
To Me International Foundation is a Hawaii-based non-profit
organization devoted to promoting children’s
literacy. With the simple mission of spreading the
love and joy of reading aloud, its goal is to have
every child read to for at least 10 minutes every
day. The Fathers Bridging the Miles program operates
in the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.
“It
is amazing to see the relationships between fathers
and their children bloom over books and reading. The
children enjoy getting the books in the mail and love
listening to their fathers’ voices. We know
our program is having an impact when we meet former
program participants after being paroled and they
are still reading to their children!” according
to Pat Mizuno, Program Director.
Lynne Waihee, President of Read To Me International added that “We’ve always known that magic occurs when you put a child, a book and a parent together. It’s nice to know that through our program, children who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity can share that magic with their fathers.”
Maricopa County Library District
http://www.mcldaz.org/default.aspx
Maricopa
County Library District (AZ) operates 17 libraries
throughout one of the largest and fastest growing
counties in the U.S. Its mission is to provide access
to a wealth of informational and recreational resources
for people of all ages and backgrounds so that they
may have the opportunity to expand their horizons
through reading and learning.
“The Library District sees itself as a popular reading library meeting the needs of its customers. Our approach is customer centric,” Harry R. Courtright, the Director, said. On customer surveys, when we asked our customers what they want, they said they come to the library to ‘browse’. We already were thinking about the ‘neighborhood’ concept when the customer surveys convinced me that organizing the libraries into neighborhoods, the way bookstores are organized, would be a good way to meet our customers’ needs.
“Part
of the appeal comes from the addition of bookstore-like
features, including lower shelves, lounge furniture
and grouping topics together...but we took the concept
further and decided to drop the Dewey system completely…and
our customers like it. It’s comfortable and
easy and circulation figures show double digit increases.
Customers are reading more. Browsing works."
“It is certainly an honor to receive this recognition from the National Book Foundation by awarding us an Innovation in Reading Prize for our Dewey-less approach to organizing libraries. It may inspire other libraries to also try new ways to get people reading.”
James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead.com
When
James Patterson found out his son Jack didn’t
share the same love of books as his father, James
took it upon himself to fix the situation, by going
out every summer and choosing books he knew Jack would
love. He even started writing books for kids to get
Jack interested. James decided to take his passion
for books and reading to a new level with ReadKiddoRead.com,
an easy, hassle-free place where parents, grandparents,
teachers, and librarians will find the very best books
to turn their kids into lifelong, dedicated readers.
“There are millions of kids who have never read a book they’ve liked. There are also thousands of children’s books out there—this site lists the ones they won’t be able to resist,” James says.
Children’s
literature consultant Judy Freeman also works on the
site, writing a bulk of the reviews. “Our goal
is to select compelling pageturners kids won't be
able to put down and make them eager to read more.
While we originally thought the targeted audience
for ReadKiddoRead would be grownups, it's been gratifying
to see how much kids have been using it as well.”
says Judy.
“We’re ecstatic over winning this recognition,” says James. “The site is working. And with the National Book Foundation on our side, I hope many more adults will be inspired to take their kids’ reading habits into their own hands.”
readergirlz
readergirlz is the foremost online book community
for teen girls, led by five critically acclaimed YA
authors—Dia Calhoun (Avielle of Rhia),
Holly Cupala (A Light That Never Goes Out),
Lorie Ann Grover (Hold Me Tight), Justina Chen
Headley (North of Beautiful), and Melissa Walker
(the Violet series). readergirlz is the recipient of
a 2007 James Patterson PageTurner Award and the Association
for Library Services to Children Great Web Sites Award.
To promote teen literacy and leadership in girls,
readergirlz features a different YA novel and corresponding
community service project every 
month.
Each year they conduct a minimum of two additional
special literacy projects, one in October in honor
of YALSA's Teen Read Week, and the second in April
to raise awareness of Support Teen Literature Day.
The latter project is Operation Teen Book Drop (TBD)
in partnership with YALSA, and in the first two years,
the effort has orchestrated the delivery of nearly
20,000 publisher-donated books to hospitalized teens
across the country.
For more information about
readergirlz, please visit www.readergirlz.com
and http://readergirlz.blogspot.com,
or contact divas@readergirlz.com.
"With this amazing and generous Innovations in
Reading Prize, readergirlz can continue to find new
ways to connect teens with the best authors in young
adult literature, make reading hip and appealing using
the latest technology, and inspire a sense of service
through our special literacy projects like Operation
Teen Book Drop. Our grateful thanks to the National
Book Foundation for making all this possible."
— Dia Calhoun, author and co-founder
of readergirlz
"readergirlz is honored
and grateful to receive this recognition from the
National Book Foundation. As a volunteer organization,
this grant will assist our site maintenance and fund
further special literacy projects as we challenge
teen girls to read, reflect, and reach out."
— Lorie Ann Grover, author and co-founder
of readergirlz
Robert Wilder
Like
many other teachers and writers, I try to find myriad
ways to get good books into other people’s hands.
Whether it’s a kindergartner struggling over
his first sentence, a high school student trying to
find her voice in the wilderness of adolescence, or
an intellectually starved friend at a dinner party,
books are my gesture toward a better life for anyone
willing to turn some pages. Reading provides a sustained
relationship with our minds and the minds of countless
writers trying to pursue thoughts and ideas, beauty
and humanity. Winning the Innovations in Reading Prize
is a great honor and will give me the energy to keep
fighting the good fight.
“As
both a student and co-teacher in Rob's classroom,
I was awed and inspired by his ability to draw out
insights and surprisingly sophisticated opinions regarding
literature. He demands a level of intellectuality
that his students are eager to live up to and chooses
literature and teaches it in a way that expands the
minds of his students. Rob shaped my education and
life and as teacher and mentor.”
—Rachel, age 25, Davis, CA
"From Rob I learned
that my voice, my perspective, and my (mundane teenage)
life were worth writing about. Suddenly writing wasn’t
only about producing dry, regurgitated papers for
class and reading no longer became a drag. Rob’s
teaching opened up a whole new world for me to escape
into. By capturing my experiences and conjuring up
new, impossible ones, I could envision a broader life
beyond Santa Fe and a better, funnier, far more talented
version of myself. Rob was the first “real”
writer I ever knew and remains a model of a true teacher-scholar
I strive to be."
—Molly, age 29, Ph.D. Sociology,
Lecturer, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Questions? Contact the Foundation at 212.685.0261.