ALA Press Release

NEWS

For Immediate Release

May 29, 2012

CHICAGO – Bookmobiles provide vital library services to their communities, offering free access to the latest technology and materials to users of all ages. In many ways, they are rolling library ambassadors. At this year’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, held June 21 – 26 in Anaheim, Calif., attendees will have the chance to learn more about bookmobiles and mobile outreach services on Saturday, June 23, 2012, during Bookmobile Saturday.

The all-day event is presented by the ALA’s Office for Literary and Outreach Services (OLOS). It will provide attendees the opportunity to learn about the importance of mobile outreach services and their future in communities across America. Concluding the event will be a “Parade” of bookmobiles in the exhibit hall, which will be open to all conference attendees.

Bookmobiles, like libraries, continue to meet the needs of their communities by offering free access to the latest technology and materials to users of all ages. By offering the same quality services available in libraries, patrons can search the Web, take a computer class, participate in resume workshops, listen to preschool story hours or check out books and DVDs.

Bookmobile Saturday will begin with “Serving Communities outside the Walls of the Library – Using Mobile Library Services to reach the Underserved,” from 8 – 10 a.m. in room 206A of the Anaheim Conference Center (ACC). Panelists will explore the many ways bookmobiles extend the reach of the library in communities of all sizes and provide services to children, English language learners and seniors.

A second panel discussion, “Outreach as a Core Principle: How the King County Library System put outreach out front and won the Library of the Year award,” will follow from 10:30 – noon in ACC room 203B. Representatives of the King County (Wash.) Library System, 2011 Library of the Year, will discuss how they put their bookmobile plan into motion with their Future Services Strategy. The strategy places library outreach on the same footing as in-library and online services in order to combat illiteracy through early literacy programs.

Following the panel discussions, attendees will have the opportunity to attend a ticketed author luncheon from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in room ACC room 303C with special guest and social entrepreneur Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO of Year Up, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young adults in urban areas. Year Up's intensive one-year program provides high school graduates and GED recipients between the ages of 18-24 with a combination of hands-on skill development and corporate internship opportunities.

Concluding the event is the Parade of Bookmobiles, held from 3 – 5 p.m., in the exhibits hall (ACC, Hall A), in conjunction with the ALA Diversity and Outreach Fair. Attendees will be able to board and explore some of the latest bookmobiles as well as speak with bookmobile staff.

Bookmobile Saturday is sponsored by Farber Specialty Vehicles and OBS, Inc.

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 60,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.

For more information on the 2012 ALA Annual Conference, please visit the ALA Conference Web site at www.ala.org/annual, or contact ALA Media Relations Manager Macey Morales at (312) 280-4393, mmorales@ala.org, or ALA PR Coordinator Jennifer Petersen at (312) 280-5043,jpetersen@ala.org.

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CONTACT:

Jennifer Petersen

ALA Media Relations

312-280-5043