Reading Renovation Volunteer Project
Idearc Media's community mission is to create communities of readers where its employees and customers live and work. Idearc Media, home to Superpages.com(r) and publisher of the Verizon(r) Yellow Pages, is partnering with ALA to refurbish reading areas in three public libraries.
Soundview Branch (Bronx)
The children's room of the Soundview Branch of the New York Public Library was renovated April 25 and 26 by 40 Idearc volunteers. This makeover of the children’s area features a "Bronx Zoo" theme, with murals of animals reading with children. Volunteers also painted walls and murals, moved books and shelving, and cleaned and updated landscaping.
Wilmington Memorial Library
The Wilmington Memorial Library (Massachusetts) children's area received its first makeover since the building opened in 1969 in the middle of November. The new children's area features the native Baldwin apple, with a new puppet theatre and murals of animals native to the area. Idearc volunteers painted walls and murals, moved books and shelving, and installed end-of-stack decorative panels.
‘Celebrating Heroes’ at the D.C. Public Library
On October 4th and 5th over 75 employees of Idearc Media pitched in to update the Black Studies Division of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The employees installed new furniture, updated bulletin boards, and cleaned and reorganized the collection.
ALA worked with the library to expend $20,000 from Idearc on enhancements such as new tables and chairs, and shelf panels featuring Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Carter G. Woodson, Marian Anderson, and Malcolm X. Duke Ellington's picture graces a door and the bravery of the Tuskegee Airman is highlighted on the wall outside the division.
The library will celebrate the grand reopening of the Black Studies Division on Sunday, October 28, from 2-4pm.
Fort Worth Public Library’s Riverside Branch Transformed
During National Library Week in April 2007, the Riverside branch of the Fort Worth Public Library received a makeover from 100 Idearc, Media employees that transformed new children’s and young adult areas to a setting that now will reflect the heritage of its predominately Hispanic/Latino population.
Over the course of three days, Idearc Media volunteers moved collections, landscaped, installed colorful new furniture, and painted walls and murals. Once again, Idearc provided ALA with funds to grant to the library for the makeover.
“Community involvement is much more personal when you roll up your sleeves and get to work,” said Janet Stevens, senior vice president-public relations for Idearc Media. “Our employees are excited about the library refurbishing projects because it gives them the opportunity to personally support Idearc Media’s focus on creating communities of readers. This is an example of how our employees are always ready to get involved with communities where they live and work.”
Idearc Media connects buyers with sellers through its multiplatform advertising solutions, and is the largest publisher of Spanish-language directories in the United States. For more information visit www.idearc.com