2026 Friends' Choice Award
Vote now!
Friends of the Library can cast their vote for the 2026 Friends’ Choice Award.
Thanks to your support, Friends have helped fund exciting projects—from launching online games that promote civic engagement, to hosting global librarians serving the blind and print disabled, to supporting the Rare Book and Special Collections Division in creating educational materials. Your vote truly makes a difference.
This year, two outstanding projects are in the running. Every Library Friend gets one vote, and the project with the most votes will receive funding.
Already a Friend? Here is how to vote:
- Learn about the projects: Read the descriptions and/or watch the videos below.
- Check your email: You’ll find your voting link there. (One vote per member, please.)
- Save the date: We’ll announce the winner the week of {Date}.
- Stay tuned: Follow along for updates and see the impact your vote makes!
Not a Friend of the Library?
Become a Friend and cast your vote! Memberships begin at $50 annually. Your donation helps to create informational and inspirational experiences for all Americans.
2026 Friends' Choice Proposals
Project 1: Portable, Pioneering, and Practically Forgotten: Re-Creating the Dry Collodion Process
Conservation: Portable, Pioneering, and Practically Forgotten: Re-Creating the Dry Collodion Process
A new project at the Library of Congress seeks to understand an overlooked process for producing photographic negatives in the 19th century: dry collodion. Staff will hire an experienced historical photographer to recreate dry collodion negatives using original 19th-century formulas and methods
Introduced in 1855, the dry collodion process offered a more flexible alternative to the well-known wet plate collodion technique. Unlike the wet process, which required photographers to prepare and develop plates immediately, dry collodion plates could be made in advance and developed later, making this method ideal for use in remote or extreme environments by explorers, scientists, and engineers.
Although once widely used—representing an estimated 4–8% of photographs at the time—the dry collodion process has been largely forgotten and is often unrecognized in photographic archives and scholarship today. The sample set created produced through this project will support ongoing research, help conservators identify dry collodion plates within the Library’s collections, and serve as a training resource for professionals worldwide.
This project will create a reference collection, a public website with scans and instructional videos, and a public lecture with an accompanying display. Ultimately, this project highlights the technical innovation of 19th-century photographers and deepens our understanding of their diverse practices and contributions to photographic history.
Project 2: AFC@50
American Folklife Center: AFC@50
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding legislation, the American Folklife Center (AFC) will launch AFC@50 —a dynamic suite of educational and interactive programs designed to introduce new audiences to its rich collections. Developed in collaboration with Library staff, educators, scholars, and visitors, AFC@50 will include performances, community outreach events, scholarly discussions, and educational activities both in-person and online.
Each program will connect directly to specific items featured in the upcoming 50th Anniversary Exhibition, set to open in September 2026 in the Library of Congress’s Treasures Gallery. Together, the exhibition and related programs will highlight the vital role the AFC plays in preserving and celebrating global cultural traditions.
AFC@50 will also feature contemporary performances that connect today’s audiences with the historic Archive of Folk Culture, bringing its stories and sounds to life. These efforts aim to engage a wide range of participants—students, educators, researchers, and general visitors—by spotlighting diverse areas of the AFC’s holdings and emphasizing their relevance in today’s cultural conversations.
AFC@50 will not only honor the Center’s remarkable past but also inspire future generations to explore, appreciate, and contribute to folklife traditions.