Panel gathers for Webcast summit to discuss lifelong literacy
Dale Lipschultz
Literacy Officer,
ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services
(312) 280-4294
dlipschultz@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release,
March 25, 2009
CHICAGO – The most pivotal activity in a person’s life is learning to read.Ã Literacy skills open the doors to social and economic success in a rapidly changing and challenging world.
Today, literacy means more than reading. Being literate means knowing when information is needed and having the ability to locate, evaluate and effectively use it.
Literacy is also a lifelong activity in which libraries play a crucial role by providing essential resources and expertise.
A distinguished and diverse panel of librarians and library practitioners, including ALA President Jim Rettig and National Institute for Literacy Acting Director Daniel J. Miller, will discuss the roles that libraries play in supporting lifelong literacy – and communicate tools librarians can use - during a special Webcast Summit.
The Webcast, Literacy for All: Advocacy, Libraries and Literacy, will be held from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 7. Panelists, librarians from public, school and academic libraries, will discuss successful library literacy programs, innovative community partnerships and effective library advocacy.Ã
In addition to Rettig and Miller, the panelists will include: Camila Alire, American Library Association president-elect; Sandra O. Newell, chair, ALA Committee on Literacy; Dinah O'Brien, director of community resources, Plymouth (Mass.) Public Library; Mark Pumphrey, director, Polk County (N.C.) Public Library; Stacey Nickell, director of library services, West Kentucky Community & Technical College, Paducah, Ky., Terri Kirk, librarian, Reidland High School, Paducah, Ky. and Dale Lipschultz, literacy officer, American Library Association.
For more information on registering for the Webcast, visit http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/literacyforall09/webcast0407.html.
The event is sponsored by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) in partnership with the American Library Association’s Committee on Literacy.
