Thomson Gale to sponsor the Opening General Session at AASL National Conference
Contact: Kathy Agarwal
Phone: 312-280-4381
Fax: 312-664-7459
For Immediate Release
March 24, 2005
Thomson Gale to sponsor the Opening General Session at AASL National Conference
CHICAGO – Thomson Gale will sponsor the Opening General Session of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 12th National Conference and Exhibition in Pittsburgh, October 6-9, 2005.
The Opening General Session will be held on Thursday, October 6, 3:30-5:30 p.m. with actor LeVar Burton, host and co-executive producer of the highly acclaimed PBS series Reading Rainbow, as the featured keynote speaker. Burton, who has won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series, has been quoted as saying he is “most proud of
Reading Rainbow's ability to create human beings who are passionate about literature.” Burton also is well known for his portrayal of Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge in the four most recent Star Trek movies and the TV series
Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition, he is the author of
Aftermath, a science fiction novel.
The Opening General Session will kick off the AASL National Conference, which will feature six outstanding preconference workshops, more than 100 concurrent sessions, over 200 exhibiting companies, nine school and educational tours, a Storytelling Festival, and special appearances by award-winning authors Chris Crutcher and Jerry Spinelli. For more information about the AASL 12th National Conference and Exhibition, visit
www.ala.org/aasl/pittsburgh.
Thomson Gale™ (
www.gale.com), a subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet.
The American Association of School Librarians (
www.ala.org/aasl), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library media services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library media field.
