We have a winner…well actually we have 2!

We couldn’t be prouder to announce the first two winners of the $10,000 Better World Books/National Center for Family Literacy Libraries and Families Award!

The winning libraries will each receive $10,000 for their awesome family programming.

Meet the winners:

• The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library in Shirley, N.Y. (Public/Academic Libraries Category). The library’s Learning English: A Family Affair program offers high quality instruction focused on learning English. Standardized tests show that 75 percent of participants increase their English proficiency by at least one level in less than a year; and
• The Vineland Public Library in Vineland, N.J. (Urban Library Category). The library’s Families and Books workshop instructs adults on the importance of reading to their children daily. The program, which is conducted at local schools, community organizations and in the library, has strong results. Research shows 63 percent of parents who attended the workshops said they read more often to their children, and 88 percent of parents said reading aloud to their children had improved their children’s readings skills.

Our CEO David Murphy had this to say; “Local libraries serve a critical role in promoting lifelong learning and literacy in their communities. We are proud to partner with NCFL to specifically promote the new and innovative ways libraries are working to bring families together over books and learning.”

And Sharon Darling the NCFL president & founder added, “Libraries provide important access for families to read together and take other critical steps that lead to success. This new award program will spur the innovative programming that is fundamental to that success.”

The winners were officially announced at NCFL’s National Conference on Family Literacy in San Antonio.  To learn more, check out our detailed press release!