Sacramento Public Library unveils award-winning National Library Week campaign

CHICAGO — Residents of Sacramento, Calif., have been seeing a number of new public transit signs, window clings and posters all reminding that the Sacramento Public Library is a place where everyone belongs.



As the winner of the 2012 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week grant, the library received $3,000 to develop its public awareness campaign using the National Library Week theme, You belong @ your library.

The campaign's target audience is the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. Working with local GLBT designers, the library produced posters, window clings and print and electronic ads that have been placed in local and GLBT publications and throughout Sacramento’s public transit system. Additional promotional materials are also being distributed at the library's 28 branch locations and among local partner organizations.



Campaign partners include the Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange, a library and cultural center for the GLBT and friends and family community; The Vespertine Circus, a California-based circus and performance group, and Sac City Roller Derby. Both the posters and the transit signs feature members from these partner groups.

The $3,000 grant, sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing, a division of Scholastic Inc., the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is awarded annually for the best public awareness campaign in support of National Library Week (April 8-14, 2012). The grant is administered by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Awareness Committee.



The library's programming for the week will include events that draw attention to the variety of services and resources the library offers for people of all ages. The library will promote current programs like “Come Out! for Aerobics” and “Same Sex Speed Dating for Book Lovers,” as well as new initiatives, such as an “It Gets Better” video recording session. Movie, gaming and book club events will also be hosted throughout the week.



Members of the 2011-2012 National Library Week Subcommittee are: Tony Tallent, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, S.C.; Holly Clark Carroll, Poudre River Public Library, Fort Collins, Colo.; Renee DiPilato, Alexandria (Va.) Public Library, Duncan Library; Sol Gomez, Woods Branch of the Pima County Public Library, Tucson, Ariz.; Emily Kornak, Barrington (Ill.) Area Library; Susan Kowalski, Pine Grove Junior High School, East Syracuse, N.Y.; Portia Latalladi, Garfield Branch of the Chicago Public Library; Bev Obert, Illinois Heartland Library System; and Lisa Powell-Williams, Moline (Ill.) Public Library.



A copy of the winning proposal is available online at www.ala.org/nlwgrant.



The Campaign for America’s Libraries is ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations.



For more information about Scholastic, visit its online media room.