NEH, ALA announce We the PeopleBookshelf awards for 3,000 libraries

Contact: Angela Thullen
Program Officer, Communications
ALA Public Programs Office
(312)280-5286
athullen@ala.org
For Immediate Release,
April 8, 2008

NEH, ALA announce We the People Bookshelf awards for 3,000 libraries


CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have selected 3,000 school and public libraries throughout the country to receive a collection of 17 classic books from the We the People Bookshelf project. The theme of this year’s Bookshelf is “Created Equal.” To view the full list of Bookshelf recipients, visit http://publicprograms.ala.org/bookshelf.

The Bookshelf award is part of the NEH’s We the People program, which supports projects that strengthen the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture. Selected libraries will receive the set of 17 books (as well as four of the titles in Spanish translations), posters, bookmarks and bookplates to assist in the promotion of the We the People Bookshelf, “History in a Box” resource materials on Abraham Lincoln from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and access to online planning and promotional materials.

The We the People Bookshelf on “Created Equal” contains the following titles:

  • Kindergarten through Grade 3: “The Ugly Duckling,” by Hans Christian Andersen; “The Gettysburg Address,” by Abraham Lincoln; “Pink and Say,” by Patricia Polacco; “Pink y Say,” by Patricia Polacco (translated by Alejandra López Varela)
  • Grades 4 through 6: “Elijah of Buxton,” by Christopher Paul Curtis; “Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Independence,” by Russell Freedman; “Lincoln: A Photobiography,” by Russell Freedman; “Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom,” by Virginia Hamilton; “Lyddie,” by Katherine Paterson; “Lyddie,” by Katherine Paterson (translated by Rosa Benavides)
  • Grades 7 through 8: “Saturnalia,” by Paul Fleishman; “Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” by Russell Freedman; “Abraham Lincoln the Writer: A Treasury of His Greatest Speeches And Letters,” edited by Harold Holzer; “Breaking Through,” by Francisco Jiménez; “Senderos Fronterizos,” by Francisco Jiménez (translated by Francisco Jiménez)
  • Grades 9 through 12: “Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution,” by Natalie S. Bober; “That All People May Be One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face of the Earth,” by Nez Perce Chief Joseph; “Flowers for Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes; “Flores para Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes (translated by Paz Barroso); “Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography,” by William Lee Miller; “Amistad: A Novel,” by David Pesci

The NEH plans to issue a Bookshelf each year on themes related to ideas and ideals unique to America. Since 2003, The NEH in partnership with the ALA has awarded 9,000 We the People Bookshelves to public and school libraries. Applications are peer reviewed by volunteer public and school librarians. Libraries are then selected by the NEH with recommendations from the ALA.

Established in 1992, the ALA Public Programs Office has an exemplary track record of developing library programming initiatives, including the acclaimed reading and discussion series "Let's Talk About It," film discussion programs on humanities themes, traveling exhibitions, LIVE! @ your library® and other programs. Recently, it has established the Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment created to help all types of libraries across the country bring communities together through cultural programming (www.ala.org/ccf). More than 10,000 libraries and at least 10 million individuals have participated in library programming initiatives supported by the Public Programs Office. For more information about the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies exhibitions and programs in libraries, museums and other community places. For more information, visit www.neh.gov.