Humanities Montana is now accepting nominations for the annual Montana Center for the Book (MCB) Prize. Up to five award-winning programs will receive $1,000 cash in recognition of their creative and wide-reaching literary programming such as family reading groups that promote youth literacy, reading series that encourage active engagement with the literary arts, or high school workshops that support student participation. The deadline to submit nominating letters is July 15.

With a mission to promote an awareness of books, writing, reading, the book arts, publishing and literacy in Montana, the MCB is a program of Humanities Montana and the state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Presented to up to five Montana-based organizations that offer creative and wide-reaching literary programming, the MCB Prize with its $1,000 cash award recognizes and supports programs that celebrate literature and give people increased access to books and writers. While ongoing programs are eligible for nomination and organizations may nominate themselves for the Prize, the Prize is awarded for work already completed, not activities planned for the future. Because the MCB Prize is not a grant for future use, the cash award may be used for any purpose and does not require any reporting regarding its use. Prize recipients are chosen by the MCB advisory committee and the Humanities Montana board of directors.

In awarding the MCB Prize, the Montana Center for the Book prioritizes geographic diversity with a special emphasis on organizations that reach rural populations. While qualifying programs do not have to be free, the MCB does prefer low- or no-cost programs. Examples of prize-worthy activities include mini-festivals, literacy promotion, One Book programs, Little Free Library programs, and reading/writing workshops.

From a large volume of 2018 nominations, the Center for the Book Advisory Committee selected four recipients for the MCB Prize; two of those recipients were Arts Without Boundaries in Billings and Heart Butte School District.

Arts Without Boundaries (AWB) is a nonprofit organization that facilitates and creates opportunities for students to engage with and participate in the arts. Organization founders believe that the arts inspire creative thinking and problem-solving skills and play a critical role in children’s academic and social development. Because AWB further believes that student participation in art and music is critical for academic success and can increase the probability of an at-risk student staying in school, they provide students with affordable/free of charge writing, art, and music programs. This Billings-based program strives to reach students in communities across all social and economic boundaries, giving access to public, private and home school students. In supporting their goals, AWB funds several after-school art classes for students, including six-week programs focusing on sculpture, print-making, drawing, painting, and more. This program continues to expand and is currently offered in several middle and elementary schools in Billings.

Another MCB Prize winner, the Books for Heart Butte Kids program serves children on the Blackfeet Reservation and strives to provide books that children can call their own outside of the school library. To fulfill this goal, program founder and local speech therapist, Michele Herrington started collecting new and gently used book donations.

According to nomination documents, Herrington realized the best way to instill an appreciation for books in her small reservation community was to give each child a personal copy of an age-appropriate book that he/she can read with a teacher’s guidance. As these readers become familiar with a book in the classroom, they can then read it on their own. Since many students in Heart Butte don’t have easy access to books at home, the Books for Heart Butte Kids has provided hundreds of books over the last six years and continues to develop book ownership as children get older.

Anyone interested in submitting a nomination should consider the following steps:

1) Describe the program being nominated.

• What does the program do? Why was the program created? Where does the program take place? When does the program occur? Who makes the program happen?

• Who does the program serve? How many people are affected by the program?

• History of the program, future plans for the program, including any hopes for expansions/changes.

• How is the program funded?

2) Describe the organization that presents the program.

• Include a brief version of the mission statement, including the organization’s status (government agency, non-profit, commercial, etc.).

• Organization structure—number of staff, volunteers, board.

Nomination documents, which can be up to two pages, should be emailed by July 15, 2019 to kim.anderson@humanitiesmontana.org, and any questions should be directed to Kim Anderson, Director of Programs and Grants at Humanities Montana by phoning 406-243-6022.