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Prince William Public Libraries recently received a continent-wide honor from a North American nonprofit dedicated to promoting urban libraries.
The Urban Libraries Council named the county’s libraries as a “Top Innovator” for 2025 in the contest’s “advocacy and awareness” category, according to a county news release.
The award recognized Prince William’s 鈥淔inding a Way to Slay Among Gen Z” initiative, which sought to defy teen stereotypes regarding public libraries by intertwining a teen volunteer with library staff to develop new ideas.
鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly proud of the collaboration between our librarians, communications and marketing team and 鈥� most notably 鈥� our teen volunteer for crafting such an inventive script … ” Jennifer Patterson, director of Prince William Public Libraries, said in the release. 鈥淭his recognition reinforces our mission to bring people, information, and ideas together in a welcoming, inclusive environment.鈥�
The council’s Innovations Initiative involves an annual showcase of projects from among its over 200 member libraries across the U.S. and Canada.
Prince William Public Libraries also received a “Top Innovator” award from the council in 2021 in the “health and wellness” award category.
鈥淭he Innovations Initiative highlights the best of what libraries across North America offer their communities,鈥� said Brooks Rainwater, president and CEO of the Urban Libraries Council. 鈥淚n a year that has proved especially challenging for libraries, this year’s winners, honorable mentions and nominees all demonstrate our urban libraries are as important, resilient, and forward-thinking as ever.鈥�
