2007 Penguin Young Readers Group Award Winners announced

Contact: Marsha Burgess

Program Coordinator

ALSC

312-280-2166

For Immediate Release

February 7, 20007

2007 Penguin Young Readers Group Award winners announced

CHICAGO - Four children’s librarians, winners of 2007 Penguin Young Readers Group Awards, will receive grants to attend their first-ever ALA Annual Conference. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), administers the award, which is sponsored by the Penguin Young Readers Group.

Rachel Martin Gould, Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library, Watertown, Mass.; Cheryl “Kay” Gooch, Gullett Elementary School, Austin, Texas; Sally L. Miculek, Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas; and Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore., will attend ALA’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC and will each receive a $600 grant. Recipients of the annual award must have one to 10 years of experience as a children’s librarian, work directly with children, and have never before attended an ALA Annual Conference.

“Attending ALA will help me continue to reach more children and young adults,” said winner Rachel Martin Gould. “The ALA conference will greatly enhance my professional development by facilitating networking and the exchange of ideas about library service to juvenile patrons.”

The committee received 11 applications, many of which were very impressive, according to selection committee chair Alison O’Reilly, Austin (Texas) Public Library. The committee chose the winners at the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle.

Members of the selection committee are: Rita Auerbach, New York, N.Y.; Carolyn Blankley, Alvin Sherman Library at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Tracy-Lyn Van Dyne, Connetquot Public Library, Bohemia, N.Y.