BWI/YALSA Collection Development Grant winners announced
Contact: Larra Clark
312-280-5043
lclark@ala.org
ALA News Release
For Immediate Release
January 2001
BWI/YALSA Collection Development Grant winners announced
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Publishers' Liaison Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the Book Wholesalers Inc./YALSA Collection Development Grant. Rachel E. Kovacs of the Pendleton (Ind.) Juvenile Correction Facility and Kevin M. Scanlon of the Flint (Mich.) Public Library will each receive a $1,000 grant for collection development.
Kovacs is creating a new prison library that currently contains only donated books, many of which are outdated, in need of repair, and contain inaccurate information.
"We have a lot of empty shelves," Kovacs laments. "The teens are losing interest in the library because of lack of selection." Kovacs is expanding resources through interlibrary loan and distance education programs, and plans to use the grant to purchase sorely needed nonfiction print materials.
Scanlon's library has recently focused "special attention and effort [on] finding resources for reluctant teen readers." He plans to use the grant money to jumpstart the library's "Graphic Rescue" initiative, purchasing graphic novels, as well as materials on graphic artists and careers in graphic art. Scanlon believes that graphic novels are "an excellent gateway for reluctant readers to discover the pleasures of reading and develop regular library use habits." Related programs on graphic art and design are also being planned.
Grant applications for next year are available from the YALSA office or
online.
Applications are due December 1, 2001.
The Publishers' Liaison Committee includes: Lauren Adams-chair, David J. Gale, Eunice Harper, Eva-Maria Lusk, Suzanne Manczuk, Judy T. Nelson, Sharyn November, Susan Rosenzweig, Amelia A. Schwartz, and Jan Staudemeyer.