Hialeah Public Libraries win Great Book Giveaway V

Contact: Nichole Gilbert


(312) 280-4387

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


January 2001

Hialeah Public Libraries win Great Book Giveaway V

Hialeah (Fla.) Public Libraries is the winner of the fifth Great Book Giveaway Competition. It is the first public library to win the competition, which is sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Hialeah Public Library will receive literally a "ton" of children's, young adult and adult books, videos, CDs and audio cassettes that publishers and producers donated to YALSA in 2000 for review by the division's awards and selection committees. The estimated value of the collection is about $25,000.

When told the news, Library Director Marla Alpizar said, "How wonderful! I can't believe it! I'm going to be so happy to provide new reading materials for our young people."

In her winning application, Alpizar explained how the Great Book Giveaway collection will be used. "The JFK Library [the main library], thanks to the more than 30 public access computers with Internet access added within the last two years, has seen phenomenal increase in YA (young adult) traffic. The time is right for us to include books as an additional means to strengthen our YA bridge; what's more, the Giveaway collection would give our library a healthy start in fostering a love of reading for our YA's to carry into adulthood."

Hialeah Public Libraries also have a multi-faceted literacy program called "Hialeah Reads," which includes several community partners. These local agencies have been very supportive of improving service to young adults and have generated ideas about how their young adult clients could use the Great Book Giveaway materials to strengthen personal growth, leadership and community service skills.

"It's great to see plans to make the Great Book Giveaway collection part of a community focus on literacy," commented YALSA President Mary Arnold.

Applications for the Great Book Giveaway VI will be available in Spring 2000, and the deadline will be December 1, 2001.

For more information, contact the YALSA Office, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611, telephone 800-545-2433, ext. 4390 or e-mail
YALSA@ala.org. Information also will be available at the
YALSA section of the ALA home page.