Today, Monday, Nov. 16, the Library of Congress will award former Beatle Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

McCartney, now 67, is scheduled to accept the award in the spring of 2010.

“As a great admirer of the Gershwins’ songs, I am highly honored to be given the Gershwin Prize by such a great institution as the Library of Congress,” McCartney said in a news release from the library.

The Washington Post reports that the details are still uncertain. The library has plans for an all-star tribute concert, but no headliner names, nor a venue, have been released yet.

“It is hard to think of another performer and composer who has had a more indelible and transformative effect on popular song and music of several different genres than Paul McCartney,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington in the news release today.

Billington selected McCartney as the winner.

The prize commemorates George and Ira Gershwin, the legendary American songwriting team whose extensive manuscript collections reside in the Library of Congress. The prize is awarded to musicians whose lifetime contributions in the field of popular song exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins.

The honor is also meant to draw attention to the musical collections in the Library of Congress and to encourage students, teachers, scholars and researchers to use the free public resource.

McCartney is just the third musician and songwriter to receive the award. Before him, Paul Simon was honored in 2007 and Stevie Wonder in February of this year.

McCartney was born in Liverpool, England on June 18, 1942 and wrote his first song at the age of 14.

McCartney is also a classical composer. His most recent classical album “Ecce Cor Meum” (”Behold My Heart”) was released in September 2006 and won the 2007 Best Album Award at the Classical Brit Awards.