ALSC announces KIDS! @ your library® Campaign
Contact: Laura Schulte-Cooper
ALSC
312-280-2165
alsc@ala.org
For Immediate Release
January 9, 2006
ALSC announces KIDS! @ your library® Campaign
CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is pleased to announce its KIDS! @ your library® Campaign. Building on The Campaign for America's Libraries, a multi-year, public awareness and advocacy campaign sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), ALSC's initiative will provide promotion tips, sample press materials, downloadable art, and other tools to help local libraries reach out to kids, their parents and caregivers.
“The main goal of this dynamic new campaign is for all school age children to use their public library. Parents will know that taking their children to the library is one of the best and most important things they can do for their family,” said ALSC President Ellen G. Fader.
KIDS! @ your library® is being developed by children's librarians for children's librarians based on focus groups with children and feedback from librarians across the country. The first phase of the campaign will focus on children in grades K-4, their parents and caregivers. Members of ALSC's Campaign Planning Task Force include: Chair, Stephanie D. Bange, Dayton (Ohio) Metro Library; Carolyn S. Brodie, School of Library & Information Science, Kent (Ohio) State University; Ellen G. Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore; Richard K. Farley, Marshall Cavendish Corp., Tarrytown, N.Y.; Jos N. Holman, Tippecanoe County Public Library, Lafayette, Ind.; Sue McCleaf Nespeca, Kid Lit Plus Consulting, Youngstown, Ohio; Gail Nordstrom, Stillwater (Minn.) Public Library; Judy O'Malley, Charlesbridge Publishing, Watertown, Mass.; and Linda Staskus, Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library.
“The official campaign logo says it all…So much to see. So much to do. @ your library,” said Stephanie Bange, Task Force chair. “We believe our lively campaign resources will draw boys and girls into the library. The Task Force has listened to suggestions from school-aged children and librarians from across the nation in developing just the right tools. Flashy graphics, a singable song—composed especially for the campaign by Grammy-nominated singer/storyteller Bill Harley!—and a catchy key message are just a few things librarians will be able to use to promote the library to children and their parents.”
A Campaign Fact Sheet is being distributed at major ALSC events held during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio. It also is available on the ALSC Web site at www.ala.org/alsc . Plans are in the works for exciting, information-packed programs on how to use the campaign and its materials.
Plan now to attend the KIDS! @ your library ® program at the 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans on Sunday, June 25, 2006, 1:30-3:30 p.m. A campaign program also will be featured at ALSC's National Institute in Pittsburgh, in fall 2006. A national launch to the public also is planned for fall 2006.