ALA joins nationwide celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month
Contact: Laura Hayes
312-280-5055
lhayes@ala.org
For Immediate Release
March 2002
ALA joins nationwide celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month
The American Library Association (ALA) is joining the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and a host of other partners to launch the first annual Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) in April. JAM will pay tribute to jazz annually both as a historic and a living American art form. April is designated as Jazz Appreciation Month in honor of the birthdays of such jazz giants as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan and Tito Puente.
The ALA encourages all libraries to participate in this initiative by highlighting their jazz holdings and hosting public programs, such as concerts, discussion programs and exhibits that explore the history and music of jazz.
"As community cultural centers, libraries are an important part of this national initiative," said John Berry, ALA president. "By hosting public programs, libraries can help their communities recognize the importance of jazz in American culture and increase the public's exposure to and appreciation of jazz music."
In April, schools, colleges, museums, concert halls and public broadcasters also will host programs to celebrate JAM. Participating in the JAM launch are more than a dozen national organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts; the U.S. Department of Education; the National Park Service; the International Association for Jazz Education; MENC: The National Association for Music Education; the U.S. State Department; The Grammy Foundation; the American Federation of Musicians; the Association of Performing Arts Presenters; the National Endowment for the Humanities; National Public Radio; the ASCAP Foundation; BMI; the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation; the Music Performance Trust Fund; and the Irving Caesar Trust.
"Our goal for the first year is to build awareness of JAM," said John Hasse, curator for American Music at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. "We hope that local initiatives by libraries and performing arts centers, for example, will turn this into a true nationwide celebration."
In honor of JAM, the ALA Public Programs Office has created a new Web site (
www.ala.org/publicprograms/jam) that contains tips and ideas for library jazz programs and the Smithsonian has developed a new Web site (
www.Smithsonianjazz.org) devoted entirely to jazz. Smithsonianjazz.org will explore the full breadth of jazz related holdings and programming at the Smithsonian, including scheduled events for JAM 2002. Smithsonianjazz.org is made possible by America's Jazz Heritage, a partnership of the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds and the Smithsonian Institution.
Founded in 1876, ALA has a membership of nearly 63,000 librarians and library supporters. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library services and public access to information.
