Arizona, California libraries win 2015 Bookapalooza Program

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) has awarded the 2015 Bookapalooza Program to three libraries:  Maricopa Public Library, Maricopa, Arizona; Pinetop-Lakeside Public Library, Lakeside, Arizona; and Monterey County Free Libraries, Marina, California.

The award includes a variety of materials from books to DVDs and audiobooks. These materials have been received at the ALSC office from publishers for selection committees to evaluate for awards and notables consideration. To make room for the next year’s publications, Bookapalooza was created to infuse three collections with new materials for children age birth through age 14. 

The Maricopa Public Library in Arizona has been able to do a lot with very little. Despite a small materials budget, the Library welcomes over 11,000 attendees to children’s storytimes and literacy programs each year, and their children’s materials circulate at more than twice the national average rate. The addition of new Bookapalooza books, DVDs and audiobooks will allow staff to create new storytimes and Kindergarten prep sessions around these materials.

An infusion of Bookapalooza materials will provide users of Pinetop-Lakeside Public Library in Lakeside, Arizona with new opportunities. The Library, which also serves a significant Native American population from the nearby Fort Apache Reservation, held over 220 programs for children and teens last year. Some materials will benefit participants in the Library’s Paws for Reading program, which allows readers to read to non-judgmental therapy dogs; others will be highlighted in a new “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program.

Monterey County Free Libraries is rightfully proud of their mobile services – their two bookmobiles make about 50 stops each month at locations ranging from a harbor community to a convalescent home to a labor camp. In addition, the Literacy Department has a Reading Safari van that partners with preschools throughout the county to provide library, literacy, book and information services to children, as well as their parents and caregivers. With the addition of the Bookapalooza materials, both the Reading Safari van and bookmobiles will be able to provide new, fresh materials to library users.

“The grant recipients all demonstrated both need for materials for their current and future library users and clearly demonstrated how they will get materials into the hands of these users, creating readers despite having little or no money for new materials,” said Susan Poulter, Grant Administration Committee chair.  “The committee is thrilled about all the Bookapalooza materials finding their way into the hands of children who need them.”

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s website at www.ala.org/alsc.

Members of the 2015 ALSC Grant Administration Committee include:  Susan Poulter, chair, Nashville (Tennessee) Public Library; Sondra Sue Eklund, Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Library; Kathleen Neil, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore; Amy Sears, Teaneck (New Jersey) Public Library; Jennifer M. Smith, Suffern (New York) Free Library;  Elizabeth Stalford, Bellevue (Washington) Public Library; Laurie Swartwout, Cardinal Stritch University Library; and Andrea Vernola, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Library.