January 28, 2020 — Lehigh Valley, Pa. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Judith’s Reading Room, a nonprofit literacy organization, founded in 2010 in the memory of Judith F. Krug, Director, Office of Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association and cousin to the founders. Its mission is to enrich lives and societies by proactively encouraging freedom through literacy. The organization has fulfilled its mission by establishing 98 libraries in 21 countries with 128,000 books valued at nearly $1.4 million.
Judith’s Reading Room chose to celebrate this milestone by honoring 10 of its ‘stand out’ libraries A special fund of $5,000 has been set aside to purchase new books for each library.
The 10 Judith’s Reading Room ‘Stand Out’ libraries are:
- Teach Rwanda, Muhanga, South Province Rwanda
- Rev. Dr, Leoda Topps, Pastor, Avery Chapel Chapel AME Church, South Haven, Mississippi
- Casa Guadalupe, Allentown, Pennsylvania
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- VA “100 “ Program at Various VA Hospitals, Lebanon, PennsylvaniaHarkins’ House, Portland, Oregon
- Harkins’ House, Portland, Oregon
- Anjali House, Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Alif Laila Book Bus Society, Lehore, Pakistan
- La Palapa Society, Todos Santos, Mexico
- The Leadership Center, Zambrano, Honduras
TEACH Rwanda, whose founder, Janet Brown, hails from Easton, Pa was the first to be notified that her organization was selected as one of the ten. In 2016, Judith’s Reading Room established its library in Rwanda at the Bright School in Muhanga, where public schools and libraries are rare, with a donation of 137 books valued at $1,181.
“With Judith’s Reading Room’s help to provide the best books from around the world, Bright School is well-known in the community for children’s love of reading, “said Brown, President and Founder of TEACH Rwanda.
“By supporting the good work of others, we aspire to share and celebrate people who are doing genuinely astonishing work, instilling in others a love of reading,” said Scott Leiber, Co-Founder of Judith’s Reading Room.
In addition to libraries, Judith’s Reading Room holds an annual competition for the “Freedom Through Literacy Award.” Initiated in 2015, Judith’s Reading Room has disbursed $33,500 in prize money, honoring 31 individual champions of literacy in the United States, the Philippines, Bhutan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Cambodia, Mexico, Australia, Zimbabwe and Greece.
Applications for the 2020 Freedom Through Literacy Award may be found at www.,judithsreadingroom.org. Deadline is July 1st. Winners announced end of July.
