The Judith’s Award

The Judith’s Award

“The Judith’s Award,” originally the runner-up prize to the organization’s “Freedom Through Literacy Award” Grand Prize winner, will take front and center as Judith’s Reading Room moves decisively to honor authors, teachers, librarians and college students studying to teach and authors who make up the backbone of education in America. All applicants must reside in the United States. “The Judith’s Award” has been fortified by opening up the application process to college students studying in the United States and who are majoring in teaching, writing and literature.

“Without authors we wouldn’t have books, without great teachers, reluctant readers —sure that they were not smart enough — would continue to fall behind their peers and without librarians trained to find the perfect book, kids might go through life saying they didn’t like to read because they never ‘met’ the perfect book,” said Cathy Leiber, Co-Founder, Judith’s Reading Room.

“The Judith’s Award” requires completion of an Application available on the Judith’s Reading Room website at www.judithsreadingroom.org. The cash award — a minimum of $500 — will be at the discretion of the Co-Founders, Scott & Cathy Leiber. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and more than one applicant may win in a calendar year. There is no deadline for submission of an Application.

Judith’s Reading Room, a nonprofit literacy organization, was founded in 2010 in the memory of Judith F. Krug, a librarian, and cousin to the organization’s founders. Judy served as the Director of Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association for 40 years.

The Judith’s Award Application

The Judith’s Award Recipients

  • Shantel Patt, Mesquite, TX – 2026

    Ms. Shantel Patt, author and teacher with 14 years of classroom experience from Mesquite, Texas is awarded $1,000 for supporting teacher learning and development.  Ms. Patt’s book, Class Is In Session:  Teaching Through the Chaos encourages preservice teachers and educators to read by offering experience-based stories from the classroom.  Untold thousands of children across school districts in Texas will benefit from her book.  Patt wrote, “I wanted to send a huge thank you to the team at Judith’s Reading Room for selecting me for the award!  It means a lot to be supported by an organization that cares so deeply about literacy and the freedom to read.  This is such an amazing boost for both my work in the classroom and my own creative projects.”

  • Barbara Miller, Fleetwood, PA – 2026

    Ms. Barbara Miller, kindergarten teacher at Willow Creek Elementary School in the Fleetwood Area School District of Pennsylvania is awarded $500 for her passion to create meaningful opportunities for students to engage with letters, sounds and text every day. The judges were struck by the wonderful things the kindergarten parents had to say about her impact on the lives of their children. “My goal is to empower every child with the foundational skills, confidence and love of learning that will support their academic journey for years to come,” said Miller.

  • Amy Allison, State College, PA – 2024

    Amy Allison’s project, Advocacy for Teens Class, teaches teens how to appropriately engage in civic and cultural literacy through a project that they eventually get to present at the local township meeting. Says Allison, “I feel it is my duty as a teacher to aid students in learning how to navigate our world, understand our cultural literacy and advocate for themselves and others.” Such advocacy mirrors the intentions, the dreams, the insistence, the passion of Judith F. Krug, in whose name Judith’s Reading Room was established.

  • Dominique Zara, Resita, Romania – 2022

    If you meet librarian Dominique Zara, winner of our 2022 Judith’s Award, you will marvel at her humility and enthusiasm. Committed to supporting the more vulnerable members of her community, she is credited with building the only English learning program at her library in Romania. More than 270 children have benefited from the engaging, creative library activities she’s organized and even more children have borrowed books to enjoy at home. And yet, ask Zara about her work, and she’d admit, “I wasn’t convinced that my actions [were] worthy of such an award.”

  • Joicki Flyod, Newark, New Jersey – 2021

    With her philosophy of “reading is fun-to-da-mental (fundamental),” Ms. Joicki Floyd began her Y.O.U.T.H. program to enable students in finding motivation, positivity, and a love of reading in the face of difficulty. Y.O.U.T.H. works with students who may not see themselves as readers and uses strategies like Socratic Seminars, discussion panels with city officials, and open mics, to spark change in their mindsets. A crucial element is Joicki’s engagement with the community; to her, seeing your neighbor or local store owner with a book in hand is as important as working directly with students.

  • Vicky Xanthopoulou, Potamia, North Greece – 2019

    Children in the village of Potamia on Thassos Island in North Greece have little access to books; without a library, it had been difficult for the community to foster solid reading skills. That’s why Vicky, an elementary school teacher, jumped into action. She created “Let’s Play Book,” which encourages children to interpret the world around them through reading and playing with books that she and other local authors have created.