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Contact: Marci Merola
Director, Office for Library Advocacy
(312) 280-2431
mmerola@ala.org

For Immediate Release,
May 6, 2008

CHICAGO -  The California Library Association (CLA) and the California School Library Association (CSLA) will co-sponsor the Advocacy Institute to be held during the American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

   “School Libraries in Crisis: Why Everyone Should Care,” will take place 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  on Friday, June 27, in Grand Ballroom E/F at the Hyatt Regency Orange County) during the 2008 Annual Conference. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

“Spokane Moms” Lisa Layera Brunkan, Denette Hill and Susan McBurney, founders of the Washington Coalition for School Libraries and Information Technology, a grassroots initiative that raised $4 million for school libraries in Washington state, are among the featured guests during  the day-long program.

Members from all segments of the library community are encouraged to attend. Attendees will learn how the crisis in school libraries can affect libraries of all types and how to leverage this crisis into their own advocacy campaigns.

Online advance registration to the program is available at the discounted rate of $50 through May 16, including lunch. Registration to ALA’s Annual Conference is not required. To register, please visit www.ala.org/annual.

Also available is the “I Love Libraries” Advocate’s Package, which includes registration for the Advocacy Institute, an “Exhibits Supreme” badge for Annual Conference, and an ilovelibraries.org Advocacy Membership, for $100 (a $120 value). To learn more, visit www.ala.org/advocacyinstitute.

The Advocacy Institute in Anaheim, California, is co-sponsored by the California Library Association (CLA), the California School Library Association (CSLA), and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). It is coordinated by the  Office for Library Advocacy (OLA), the OLA Advocacy Committee, the Advocacy Institute Task Force and the Library Advocacy Now! Training Subcommittee,  in cooperation with the ALA Public Information Office (PIO), the Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA), the Chapter Relations Committee, the Washington Office's Committee on Legislation, and Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA).

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