ALA Washington Office, YALSA Announce Winner of National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest

Contact: Andy Bridges

Communications Specialist

202-628-8410

abridges@alawash.org

For Immediate Release

November 20, 2006

ALA Washington Office, YALSA Announce Winner of National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest

WASHINGTON - The ALA Washington Office and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) are pleased to announce that the winner of the National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest is Danny Chapman of Lake Forest, Ill.

For his winning entry - entitled "Check Out the Future" - Danny has won a free trip to the 33rd Annual National Library Legislative Day (NLLD), which will be held in Washington, DC, on May 1 and 2, 2007. He will be visiting his Members of Congress with the delegation from the Illinois Library Association.

"I am so excited!" Danny said about his winning entry. "I emailed and told all my friends and they are so excited and now they've all said they're going to go to the library. "

A senior honors student at Lake Forest High School, Danny was encouraged by both his art teacher and YALSA librarian, Kerry Flaherty.

"Of the numerous entries we received, Danny's was by far the best," said Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director of the ALA Washington Office. "It not only conveys the importance of libraries in a witty, fun, and memorable way, but it also provides a great foundation on which to build another successful Legislative Day."

"We at the Washington Office look forward to bringing Danny here to DC to experience Legislative Day firsthand."

Danny's "Check Out the Future" theme will help to set the tone for National Library Legislative Day 2007, giving participants a motivating theme to help them spread the word about the importance of the event and of the services that libraries provide.

To see the logo and to find out how you can participate in National Library Legislative Day, visit
www.ala.org/nlld.

Said Flaherty, "The entire school, especially his art teacher, is very proud of him."

The National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest was sponsored by the ALA Washington Office and YALSA. If you have feedback on the contest, please email Erin Haggerty at
ehaggerty@alawash.org.

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For nearly fifty years YALSA has been the world leader in recommending reading, listening and viewing for teens. To find out more go to
www.ala.org/yalsa.

The ALA's Washington Office was established in 1945 as a conduit between ALA members and federal legislators on Capitol Hill. To learn more, visit
www.ala.org/washoff.