Contact:  Lorraine Olley
                LAMA Director
                   312-280-5036

For Immediate Release
January 15, 2005       

2005 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award winners announced

BOSTON – Seven libraries are winners of the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award, which recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in library public relations.  The John Cotton Dana honor has been awarded continuously since 1946 and is sponsored by the H. W. Wilson Company; the H. W. Wilson Foundation, and the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA)

“The quality of the applications from a variety of libraries and library organizations received this year was exceptional, and all the entrants deserve praise for their wonderful public relations efforts,” said Award Committee Chair Alicia Estes.

“The entries selected represent imaginative and effective public relations campaigns that responded to real community needs; produced real results in terms of improving public awareness and use of libraries, their programs and collections.  The John Cotton Dana Award is the most prestigious of all library awards in the public relations field and is important not only to the winning library, but also to the communities so positively impacted by these outstanding programs.” 

The 2005 awards will be presented to:

• The Riverside County Library System (Riverside, Calif.), for its innovative project, “Leer Es Triunfar – Reading is Succeeding,” designed to increase the awareness and use of library services among Latino residents in Riverside County through a series of public programs, community events, celebrity television spots and targeted Spanish-language publications.
  
• The Seattle Public Library, for the grand-opening celebration of its internationally acclaimed central library.  Part of a multi-year program to improve the Seattle Public Library system, the “Libraries for All” program brought public library awareness to an unprecedented level.
  
• San Diego State University Library and Information Access, for “Spirit of the Land Environmental Symposium and Gala Dinner.” This collaboration with the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians assembled nationally known authors, scientists and environmentalists to engage in two days of discussion open to the public and garnered support for the library’s environmental collections.
  
• The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, for its comprehensive campaign, “Louisiana Book Festival,” a free family-oriented celebration of writers, reading and books.  Community partnerships, activities galore and extensive media coverage contributed to increased awareness of Louisiana’s rich literary heritage.
  
• Maricopa County Library District (Phoenix), for “The Mystery Club of Luna Drive,” an online young adult novel that gives teens an opportunity to solve a mystery using puzzles, ciphers and critical thinking.
  
• Calgary Public Library (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), for “Rediscover Your Public Library.” This highly researched and well-planned campaign used imagination and humor to target specific audiences and convert library awareness to increased library use.
  
• North Suburban Library System (Wheeling, Ill.), for outstanding positioning of libraries as centers of critical community services. Their innovative partnership with the League of Women Voters inspired more than 80 participating libraries to provide voter registration service through their program “Honor September 11: Register to Vote @ your library.”

Winning entries will be displayed at the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award booth in the exhibit area during the 2005 ALA Annual Conference, June 23-29, in Chicago.  Conference participants also will be able to view the winners Sunday, June 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the “Best of Show/Swap and Shop” program sponsored by LAMA.

Among the other institutions who submitted their noteworthy public relations efforts for consideration were:  Scarborough-Phillips Library (Texas); Weiner Library, Farleigh Dickinson University (N.J.); New Brunswick Public Library (Canada); Algonquin Area Public Library (Ill.); Broward County Library (Fla.); Halifax Public Library (Canada); Mid-York Library System (N.Y.); Grayslake Library Foundation (Ill.); Columbus Metropolitan Library (Ohio); Rockford Public Library (Ill.); Pelican Rapids Public Library (Minn.); Onondaga County Public Library (N.Y.); Fargo Public Library (N.D.); Stark County District Library (Ohio); Howell Carnegie District Library (Mich.); North Texas Regional Library System; Waukegan Public Library (Ill.); Washington County Free Library (Md.); Johnson County Library (Kan.); Rangeview Library District (Colo.); Hennepin County Library (Minn.); LaGrange Park Public Library (Ill.); Contra Costa County Library (Calif.); Pikes Peak Library District (Colo.); Baltimore County Public Library (Md.); Bowling Green Public Library (Ky.); Harold & Wilma Good Library, Goshen College (Ind.); Frederick County Public Libraries (Md.); Lackawanna Public Library (N.Y.); Genesee District Library (Mich.); Newport Beach Public Library (Calif.); Fresno County Library (Calif.); and Lake Cumberland Region (Ky.).

Other members of the committee are: Peter V. Deekle, Floyd C. Dickman, Theresa M. Fredericka, Judith A. Gibbons, Marsha Iverson, Nancy Magneson, Patricia A. Marvel and Marcia G. Schneider.

LAMA promotes outstanding leadership and management practices and identifies, encourages and nurtures tomorrow’s leaders and managers.