ALSC 2008 Hayes Award Winner announced

Jenny Najduch


ALSC Marketing Specialist


(312) 280-4026


jnajduch@ala.org


For Immediate Release,


February 26, 2008


ALSC 2008 Hayes Award Winner Announced

CHICAGO, Ill.-The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has awarded the 2008 Maureen Hayes Award to the Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif. The award, sponsored by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, is designed to provide up to $4,000 to an ALSC member library to fund a visit from an author/illustrator who will speak to children who have not had the opportunity to hear a nationally known author/illustrator.




Stevenson Elementary School librarian, KE Hones, will bring in local Chinese American author, Millie Lee to speak to all fourth- and fifth-grade classes about her books on the Chinese American experience in the United States and the San Francisco Bay Area. Fourth- and fifth-grade students will plan and coordinate the visit by writing bilingual information for families and local press releases, planning pre- and post-author-visit activities and researching immigration and Chinese American history. The ethnic makeup of Stevenson includes more then 63 percent Chinese students.




Located near the Pacific Ocean, Stevenson Elementary School serves 450 Kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students, including those who are recent immigrants, speak a language other than English at home and are in special and gifted education programs.




“Our fourth- and fifth-grade students have never had the opportunity to experience a real author visit,” wrote the fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in the Hayes Award application. “A visit with Millie Lee would be a wonder event for students, teachers and families. Many of our families are first generation immigrants from Asia. After the visit, we hope students will go home and discuss Lee's book “Landed” and students can learn and share in their family stories.”




The Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award was established in 2005 with funding from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing to honor Maureen Hayes for her life-long efforts to bring together children and authors/illustrators.




ALSC is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,200 children's and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for all children by creating better opportunities. To learn more about ALSC, visit their Web site at
www.ala.org/alsc.




Members of the 2008 Maureen Hayes Award Committee include: Floyd C. Dickman, Ostrander, Ohio; Crystal Faris, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Mo.; Judith Rovenger, Westchester Library System, Tarrytown, N.Y.; Deborah L. Wright, Newport News Public Library System, Newport News, Va.; Michelle Fadlalla, Simon & Schuster, New York, N.Y.