The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress recognized two libraries in Georgia and Massachusetts for accessible service to readers with visual, physical or print disabilities.
The Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled in Atlanta received the 2026 Regional Library of the Year Award.
The Worcester Talking Book Library in Worcester, Massachusetts, received the 2026 Subregional Library of the Year Award.
The Library of Congress scheduled recognition for both programs at a July 22 luncheon in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington.
Established in 2004, the awards recognize libraries in the National Library Service network for support of the program's mission, innovation in service and high reader satisfaction.
NLS and its cooperating network provide accessible reading materials to eligible patrons. The awards distinguish the performance of individual network libraries rather than ranking every public-library service in the two states.
The regional and subregional labels describe different places in the NLS network. Georgia's statewide program and Worcester's local talking-book library therefore received separate award categories.
An award is a qualitative recognition, not a national access metric. Evaluating service availability still requires patron enrollment, wait times, format availability, outreach and user feedback over time.
The immediate public record identifies the honorees and award criteria. More detailed program comparisons would require the libraries' service data and documentation of the innovations considered by NLS.