Banco del Libro wins Lindgren prize for promotion of reading

Banco del Libro, a nonprofit Venezuelan network that has been distributing books to children for nearly half a century, is the 2007 winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature.

The award, which includes a cash prize of $710,000, was established by the Swedish government in 2002 and is the largest children’s book award in the world.

Banco del Libro, or the Book Bank, has helped distribute books in the South American country since 1960, and was honored as a pioneer in “disseminating books and promoting reading among children in Venezuela,” the award jury said in announcing the honor on Wednesday.

“The Banco del Libro has had very difficult moments, moments of strong economic crises,” Banco del Libro Executive Director Maria Beatriz Medina told The Associated Press in an interview from Caracas, Venezuela. The prize money will go to continue its efforts and “reach other corners of the country where we haven’t reached.”

She said the organization has won other international prizes but that “this prize is the most important, it is like the Nobel in the promotion of reading.” It was the fifth time the organization was a candidate.

Link to the Yahoo News article