American Libraries presents September 11 video documentary

Contact: Leonard Kniffel


312-280-4215

For Immediate Release


June 2002

American Libraries presents September 11 video documentary

Loss and Recovery: Librarians Bear Witness to September 11, 2001, a video documentary offering an oral history of the disaster in the context of libraries will premiere at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Atlanta. As many as 200 librarians were working in or near the World Trade Center and the Pentagon when the terrorist attacks occurred last year.

A preview of the video, produced by American Libraries, the magazine of the ALA, in cooperation with Library Video Network (LVN), will be shown Saturday, June 15, at the Opening General Session, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). The full hour-long video can be viewed on Monday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to noon in the GWCC auditorium. It will also be shown at the American Libraries booth (#1207) in the exhibit hall, where conference participants can register for an opportunity to win a free copy.

Consisting of interviews with corporate, university, law, government and social-agency librarians who witnessed the attack in New York City, the documentary looks at the effect on libraries located in lower Manhattan and at how librarians have recovered personally and professionally. Four librarians died in the attacks. Others lost colleagues, facilities and collections. What they saw and their efforts to recover make for compelling lessons for all who work in the profession. The full interviews with the 26 librarians who participated in the project are being archived in the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana.

Those interested in including this historic documentary in their personal or library collections can purchase it for $20 at the ALA Store in Atlanta and through LVN at 1-800-441-TAPE or
www.lvn.org.