Jersey City Public Library receives ALSC/BWI
Contact: Meredith Parets
312-280-2166
mparets@ala.org
For Immediate Release
February 23, 2005
Jersey City Free Public Library receives ALSC/BWI Summer Reading Grant
CHICAGO — The Jersey City (N.J.) Free Public Library is the 2005 recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)/BWI Summer Reading Program Grant. The award is presented by ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
The $3,000 grant, funded by BWI, provides financial assistance for public libraries to develop outstanding summer reading programs for children. The grant also recognizes ALSC members for outstanding program development. BWI is a full-service book and audiovisual vendor with special emphasis on children's and young adult materials that serves only the public library.
The Jersey City Free Library’s winning program is designed to reach students entering 5th-8th grade—a time when many children lose interest in reading and library activities. The Jersey City Library will develop a separate Summer Reading Club geared towards these middle grades with specially-targeted arts and crafts, movies based on popular middle-grade books and other programs. The program recognizes that these children have different literary, learning and social needs than younger children, and will respond to those needs by offering age-appropriate incentives and activities. Books will be made available in a variety of formats, including graphic novels, bilingual and audio books, and Braille format books. To encourage participation from this age group, library staff will visit neighborhood schools and promote the Summer Reading Club.
"Middle graders will like the fact that they are included, not forgotten," said Children’s Librarian Janice Greenberg, who submitted the winning program proposal. "By offering these enticements, we feel that these 5th-8th grade children will be eager to participate in Jersey City Free Public Library’s outstanding Summer Reading Club and become life-long book lovers and active library users."
Members of the 2005 ALSC/BWI Summer Reading Program Grant Committee are Chair, Jill Walker, Baker & Taylor, Bridgewater, N.J.; Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, Conn.; Jean Hatfield, Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, Kan.; Alison Grant, West Bloomfield (Mich.) Township District Library; Bettye Smith, District of Columbia Public Library; Cindy Lombardo, Tuscarawas County Public Library, Philadelphia, Ohio; Anitra Steele, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Mo.; Lynn Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Akron, Ohio; and Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, Minn.
