Second Annual NYC Neighborhood Library Awards
07 NOVEMBER 2014

On November 7th, the Second Annual NYC Neighborhood Library Awards nomination process was launched during The Brian Lehrer Show. The NYC Neighborhood Library Awards honor individual branches in New York City’s three library systems: the Brooklyn Public Library; Queens Library; and the New York Public Library, which operates branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

The Awards are supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Charles H. Revson Foundation. The theme of the 2014 awards is literacy and the critical role libraries play in supporting lifelong readers. Following nominations from library users, five winning libraries will be announced at an Awards ceremony in May 2015 and will be awarded $20,000 each—the largest cash prize awarded directly to branch libraries in the US. The winning branches will be selected by a panel of judges including acclaimed authors Jonathan Safran Foer and Jacqueline Woodson, and Dutton Children’s Books publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel.

Stelios Vasilakis, SNF Director of Programs & Strategic Initiatives, spoke to The Brian Lehrer Show, on the reasons why the Foundation supports the awards and promotes literacy.