Literacy Center Wins 2026 Library of Congress Literacy Award

The Literacy Center of West Michigan has been awarded the 2026 Kislak Family Foundation Prize, one of four top international prizes presented through the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program.

The $100,000 award recognizes an organization with an outsized impact on literacy relative to its size or years of operation. For the Literacy Center, that recognition reflects 40 years of building literacy into the places where it can make the greatest difference in adults’ lives and helping shape the field of adult literacy beyond West Michigan.

Founded in 1986 by educators and librarians, the Literacy Center is the largest community-based organization in Michigan devoted solely to adult literacy and English language learning and one of the largest in the country. Each year, more than 1,300 adults participate in free, learner-centered instruction.

The Literacy Center’s outsized impact comes from meeting adults where literacy determines opportunity: at work, in their children’s schools, in healthcare settings, in citizenship pathways, and in daily community life. Its programs connect reading, writing, English language, and workplace skills to real goals—earning a credential, advancing in a career, supporting a child’s learning, navigating health care, or participating more fully in civic life. By embedding literacy instruction in the places where people already live, work, learn, and lead, the Literacy Center turns a modest organizational footprint into a powerful regional force for economic mobility, family stability, and community belonging.

Our programs connect reading, writing, English language, and workplace skills to adults’ goals: advancing in a career, supporting a child’s learning, navigating healthcare, earning a credential, or participating more fully in community life. By offering instruction in workplaces, schools, healthcare settings, community organizations, and online, the Literacy Center meets adults where literacy shapes opportunity.

That learner-centered, community-embedded approach has also made the Literacy Center a national leader in adult literacy. Through innovative programming, cross-sector partnerships, and the sharing of effective practices, our work contributes to broader conversations about how adult education can better respond to learners’ goals and strengthen communities.

We are deeply grateful to the Library of Congress and the Kislak Family Foundation for this recognition, and to the learners, staff, volunteers, donors, and partners who have shaped this work over the past 40 years.