National Library Week Grant available
Contact: Megan Humphrey, Coordinator, Campaign for America's Libraries
312-280-4020
For Immediate Release
August 2003
$5000 National Library Week Grant available;
@ your library® brand to promote Equity of Access
U.S. libraries of all types are invited to apply for a $5,000 Scholastic Library/Grolier National Library Week Grant for the best public awareness campaign during National Library Week (April 18-24, 2004) that promotes Equity of Access. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and its publishing imprint Grolier and is administered by the Public Awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA). This year’s
application deadline is October 20, 2003.
"Equity of Access" is defined as when all people have access to all library materials, no matter their age, ethnicity, physical ability, income, language, geographic location or type of library. This is the first year that the grant will focus on Equity of Access, one of ALA’s Five Key Action Areas in ALAAction 2005. In doing so, the grant supports ALA President Carla Hayden’s presidential initiative focusing on the issue.
Starting with the 2004 grant, Scholastic Library Publishing has increased the amount of the award from $4,000 to $5,000.
"Scholastic and Grolier recognize the great deal of effort that goes into preparing an application for our annual grant, and we felt that the financial terms of our award should be commensurate with that effort," said Phil Friedman, vice president, publisher of Scholastic Library Publishing.
In addition to addressing the "Equity of Access" theme, 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 Equity of Access focus. For example, a library can celebrate "Something for everyone @ your library®" or encourage its community to "Get connected @ your library®" to promote its resources, programs and services available. 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 the National Library Week effort.
Established in 2001, the Campaign for America's Libraries is a multi-year public awareness effort sponsored by ALA to speak loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century.
Members of the 2004 Grolier Grant Jury include: Betty Turock (chair), Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies; Catherine Beyers, Southern Bluffs Elementary School, La Crosse, Wisc.; Glynda Christian, Napa (Calif.) City-County Library; and Paul Crumlish, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, N.Y.
An application form and guidelines are available on The Campaign for America’s Libraries Web site at
www.ala.org/@yourlibrary
. Information also is available from the ALA Public Information Office. Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4020. E-mail:
mhumphrey@ala.org.
The winner will be notified the first week in January and announced at the 2004 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego. Information on last year’s winner, the Kansas City Public Library, and the winning application can be viewed at
http://www.ala.org/Source/grolier_grant.pdf.
For more information about The Campaign for America’s Libraries, visit the campaign’s Web site at
www.ala.org/@yourlibrary.
