$4,000 National Library Week grant available; @ your libraryTM brand to promote role of librarians
Contact: Megan Humphrey
312-280-4020
For Immediate Release
August 2002
$4,000 National Library Week grant available; @ your library™ brand to promote role of librarians
United States libraries of all types are invited to apply for a $4,000 National Library Week Grant for the best library promotion/public awareness campaign during National Library Week (April 6-12, 2003) that promotes the role
librarians play in the 21st century. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and administered by the Public Awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).
This year's application deadline is October 15, 2002.
This is the first year that the Grolier Grant specifically will focus on the work of librarians. In doing so, the grant supports The Campaign for America's Libraries' goal of promoting librarianship as a profession and also ties into ALA President Mitch Freedman's year-long initiative, The Campaign for America's Librarians, which focuses on better salaries and pay equity.
Proposals must incorporate the @ your library™ brand. Libraries are encouraged to be as imaginative and inventive as possible in developing a local campaign or program for National Library Week that reflects the work that librarians do on behalf of their users. For example, libraries might wish to celebrate the role of librarians as in the Information Age with "The Ultimate Search Engine @ your library™" or with "Information Experts @ your library™." Libraries might also wish to recognize those librarians who are active on campus, in their schools or community with "Heroes @ your library." The brand, which is open-ended and provides lots of room for creativity, should be used on any and all promotional and publicity material to support National Library Week.
Members of the 2003 Grolier Grant Jury are: Amy Small, chair, manager of external relations, Westchester (N.Y.) Library System; Leslie Burger, director, Princeton (N.J.) Public Library; Karen Downing, Foundation/Grants librarian, University of Michigan; Anne M. Turner, director of libraries, Santa Cruz (Calif.) City-County Library System and president, California Library Association; and Harriet Selverstone, retired, Norwalk (Conn.) High School.
An application form and guidelines are available from the ALA Public Information Office. Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4020. E-mail:
mhumphrey@ala.org.
The winner will be notified at the end of December and announced at the 2003 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Information on last year's winner, the Omaha Public Library, and the winning application can be viewed at the @ your library
website.
The Campaign for America's Libraries, is a five-year public awareness effort sponsored by ALA to speak loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century. The campaign officially launched to the public during National Library Week 2001 (April 1-7) at a kickoff event in Washington, D.C., featuring First Lady Laura Bush.
For more information about The Campaign for America's Libraries, visit the campaign's
Web site
.
