On November 18, during the National Book Awards ceremony, Patterson will receive the Foundation’s 2015 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
Patterson takes the prize — whose previous recipients include Dave Eggers, Maya Angelou and Terry Gross — for donating millions of dollars for scholarships and grants, including ones to teachers colleges, school libraries and independent bookstores. He’s also given more than 250,000 books to U.S. children and 650,000 to the military.
*To read the full announcement, please go to TIME.com*