Moline Public Library celebrates National Library Week 2009
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Contact: Megan McFarlane
Campaign Coordinator
312-280-2148
NEWS
For Immediate Release
April 21, 2009Â
Public awareness campaign showcases “Worlds connect @ your library®” theme
CHICAGO –Last week, National Library Week was celebrated in  libraries across the country.. The Moline (Ill.) Public Library was no exception. As the winner of the 2009 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant, the library had the opportunity to celebrate the week in style.
The $3,000 grant, sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and administered by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Awareness Committee, is awarded annually for the best public awareness campaign in support of National Library Week. This year, libraries were asked to develop a proposal using the 2009 National Library Week theme, “Worlds connect @ your library.”
The Moline Public Library’s campaign was inspired by local artist Thomas Chouteau’s “River of Life”
kaleidoscope. The library promoted its connection with the community by creating a series of community “kaleidoscope” programs to promote National Library Week, as well as the library’s entire year of programming and promotions in 2009.
The kaleidoscope theme was developed after a conversation library director, Leslie Kee had with adult services coordinator Lisa Powell Williams regarding Thomas Chouteau’s work. Williams, who had been having difficulty working on the grant, said it was after this conversation that the community “kaleidoscope” idea came to her.
“The library is like a kaleidoscope,” Williams explained “The library represents all the different age groups, interests, and ethnic backgrounds of Moline coming together and connecting with one another.”  Â
Moline is a diverse community with more than 50 languages spoken throughout the city of 46,000. Williams along with Christina Conklin, children’s services coordinator, worked to create a series of programs that reflected this diversity. Each event during the week had  a different “kaleidoscope” themed program and demographic: a visit from Skylab, a traveling planetarium provided by the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education for children and families; author appearances by Chris Crutcher and James Loewen organized through the Quad City Arts’ Super Author program for teens and educators; and  a jazz appreciation program for adults. In addition to “kaleidoscope”-themed programming visitors to the library were given
mini kaleidoscope key chains with the “Worlds connect” logo on the side.
Throughout the spring, the library advertised on some of the city’s
Metrolink buses. The library also created a commercial that aired on Moline’s three local ABC-TV affiliates throughout National Library Week. Thanks to the library’s partnership and a donation from their Friend’s group, the commercial, originally planned to air five times during the program “Good morning, Quad Cities,” was aired 80 times during National Library Week at all times of the day on each of the ABC-TV affiliates. The library’s commercial is available on
YouTube.Â
The Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant is administered by the National Library Week subcommittee and The Campaign for America’s Libraries (
www.ala.org/@yourlibrary), ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible in part by
ALA’s Library Champions.
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic Library Publishing, a division of Scholastic, creates a multitude of products, both in print and online, for the school and public library market under the imprints of Grolier®, Children's Press®, Franklin Watts®, and Grolier OnlineTM.
