News Briefs

The Library in September announced the appointment of Arthur Sze as the nation’s 25th poet laureate consultant in poetry for 2025-26.

Sze is the author of 12 poetry collections, most recently “Into the Hush,” as well as the prose collection “The White Orchard: Selected Interviews, Essays, and Poems.” He also has published an expanded collection of Chinese poetry translations, “The Silk Dragon II.” Sze was the recipient of the Library’s 2024 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry.

During his or her term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry. During his term, Sze plans to focus on translating poetry originally written in other languages.

Sze follows Ada Limón, who recently completed a two-year second term as U.S. poet laureate.

The Library in August named Geraldine Brooks the 2025 recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She received the award on Sept. 6 at the National Book Festival.

One of the Library’s most prestigious awards, the annual prize honors an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished by not only its mastery of the art but also its originality of thought and imagination.

Brooks, an author and journalist, was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel “March.” Her other bestselling novels include “People of the Book,” “Caleb’s Crossing,” “The Secret Chord,” “Horse” and “Year of Wonders,” which has been translated into more than 30 languages. Her latest book, “Memorial Days,” recounts the sudden death of her husband and her struggle to come to terms with loss.

Twenty-four organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading were awarded the 2025 Library of Congress Literacy Awards on Sept. 8, International Literacy Day.

The Literacy Awards program, sponsored by David M. Rubenstein since 2013 and by the Kislak Family Foundation since 2023, honors promising initiatives that provide exemplary, innovative and replicable strategies that promote literacy.

The 13th David M. Rubenstein Prize was awarded to Literacy Partners in New York for its outstanding and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in eight large cities across the country and Puerto Rico. Top prizes also were awarded to Literacy Mid-South; the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ Prime Time Family Reading Program; and Building Tomorrow.

Additionally, 15 successful literacy practices were recognized, as well as five new literacy initiatives that demonstrate significant creativity and promise in their approach to literacy.

The Library in August publicly launched the next phase of its generational effort to replace legacy systems and revolutionize core functions — including cataloging, acquisition and collections access.

The Library Collections Access Platform, or LCAP, serves as the heart of the Library’s collections discovery, description and management operations. It ultimately will enable users to seamlessly discover and access all collections materials, whether the content is digital or physical, owned by the Library or licensed.

“Every person who uses the Library will touch this system in some way, from members of Congress to researchers to our staff,” said Robin L. Dale, deputy librarian for library collections and services. “This moment represents a key moment in this multiyear, organization-wide endeavor that brings us toward our goal of being a library for all.”