New ALSC director named

Contact: Mary Ghikas


Associate Executive Director


312-280-2518

For Immediate Release


December 21, 2005

New ALSC director named

(CHICAGO) The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce Diane Foote has been named executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA. Foote, previously associate editor for
Book Links magazine, will start in her new position January 17.

Prior to joining ALA, Foote held several marketing positions at Holiday House, including director of marketing. In this position, she was responsible for marketing 60 new and over 600 backlist children's trade books per year, including arranging author/illustrator appearances and managing the company's presence at conferences. She also has worked for William Morrow & Co. and as an independent editor, reviewer and marketing consultant. She was acting editor/associate editor for Book Links from September 2003 to May 2004 and also reviews children's books for
Booklist.

Foote is a member of ALA, ALSC, ALA's Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT), the ALA-Children's Book Council (CBC) Joint Committee and the Coretta Scott King Review Books Donation Grant Committee. She also has been on the board of the CBC and co-chaired the Publicity Committee for the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY). She has been a speaker at ALSC and at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Foote has a B.A. in International Relations from Colgate University and is currently completing an M.S. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the LEEP program.

Members of the search committee were: ALSC President Ellen Fader, ALSC President-elect K.T. Horning, Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA) Executive Director Kerry Ward, ALA Senior Associate Executive Director Mary Ghikas and ALA Human Resources Director Dorothy Ragsdale.