Libraries featured in March 12th issue of Woman's Day

Contact: Megan Humphrey


312-280-4020



mhumphrey@ala.org

For Immediate Release


April 7, 2002

Libraries featured in March 12th issue of Woman's Day

New tools available to help promote Put it in Writing @ your library™ program

From Janet Fitch ("White Oleander"), to Tracy Chevalier ("Girl with a Pearl Earring"), many of today's best-selling authors attribute their publishing successes to one special place - their local library - according to an article in the March 12 issue of
Woman's Day magazine.

The article announced the Put it in Writing @ your library™ program, sponsored by the American Library Association and
Woman's Day, to the magazine's 4 million readers. The program is designed to promote the wealth of opportunities that all types of libraries offer - in schools, on college/university campuses and in communities large and small - that can spark a writer's imagination and creativity and help develop a community of writers.

"Being in the library is so addictive for me that I really have to exercise self-control so I can get some writing done at home," said Fitch in the March 12 issue. Chevalier said of her experience in libraries, "I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call 'the library bliss' of being totally taken away from the distractions of life."

ALA Immediate Past President Nancy Kranich is quoted in a sidebar to the article called, "What the Library Can Do for You." The sidebar lists examples of free activities available at local libraries including logging onto the Web, checking e-mail, taking a class, joining a book club and more. "Public libraries offer more to their communities than just books," Kranich said.

The Put It in Writing @ your library program kicks off during National Library Week (April 14-20) and runs through August 1. It features a national essay contest for unpublished women writers. Writers are encouraged to send in essays to
Woman's Day in any of three categories: Health, Essay and General Reporting. The grand-prize winner in each category will be published in the March 2003 issue of
Woman's Day.

Also as part of the program, eight libraries have been selected by
Woman's Day to host writing workshops during National Library Week on April 16. The workshops will be held at the following libraries:

  • Culver City (Calif.) Julian Dixon Library
  • Aurora (Colo.) Public Library
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.
  • Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, in cooperation with Columbia College Library
  • Newton (Mass.) Free Library, in cooperation with Lasell College
  • Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (N.C.)
  • Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library System, in cooperation with the University of Tennessee
  • Vancouver (Wash.) Community Library, a branch of Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, in cooperation with the Lewis D. Cannell Library, Clark College, Vancouver, Wash.

Woman's Day writers and contributing editors will conduct two-hour sessions for new writers on how to get published, drawing from their own experiences and specialties. These workshops are free and open to the public. Librarians will showcase many of the resources available to help local writers break into the business. The eight libraries are featured on womansday.com under "Contest Central."

New materials are available on the @ your library Web site to help libraries in other cities hold their own writing workshops. Tools include programming ideas and sample press materials, as well as a resource guide for aspiring writers, including books, periodicals and Web sites. These tools, as well as the official contest rules, are available online. Forthcoming on the site are guidelines and suggestions that are being prepared by
Woman's Day on how to organize a writer's workshop @ your library and "Tips for Writers" that can be downloaded as handouts for writing seminars and other related programs.

Put It in Writing @ your library is the latest partnership of The Campaign for America's Libraries, ALA's five-year public education campaign designed to showcase the value of public, school, academic and special libraries and librarians in the 21st century. Libraries of all types in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have joined the campaign since its launch in April 2001. The Put It In Writing @ your library program is a great way for libraries to jump on board the campaign.

Woman's Day, a publication of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., is a founding partner in the campaign. Other founding partners include 3M Library Systems, Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Major League Baseball and Morningstar Foods, Inc., maker of Hershey®'s Milk.

For more information about The Campaign for America's Libraries, including how to subscribe to a discussion list for the latest updates and idea-sharing, see the
Web site. Libraries are encouraged to send multiple hard-copy samples of how they are involved in the campaign to: Megan Humphrey, Campaign Coordinator, ALA Public Information Office, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Samples may also be sent electronically to:
atyourlibrary@ala.org.