Contact: Jenny Najduch
ALSC Marketing Specialist
(312) 280-4026
JNajduch@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
February 10, 2009
CHICAGO—The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has awarded the 2009 Maureen Hayes Award to the Fair Oaks Branch of the Redwood City Library, partnered with the Garfield Elementary Charter School. 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.
The Redwood City Library, partnered with the Garfield Elementary Charter School, will host a visit from award winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan, whose books include: “One Hundred is Family; Mice and Beans; Riding Freedom; and Esperanza Rising.”The student body at Garfield school is 94 percent Latino, and in 2007 78 percent of the students were classified as English language learners.Ã Ryan’s books portray and honor the Latino cultural experience, as well as being bilingual; the students of Garfield Elementary school relate to Ryan’s work.
The primary goal at Garfield School this year is to improve the reading/language arts scores of students, especially those who are English language learners.Ã To help them achieve their goals, the Fair Oaks Branch of the Redwood City Public Library supports the community by providing literacy tutoring for at-risk students and their parents.Ã A visit from Ryan supports the literacy work that both the school and the library have done by showing children a specific reason to read, having them think about what they’re reading, getting them creatively involved in literature and engaging their families throughout the literacy process.
The Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award was established in 2005 with funding from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing to honor its former Director of Library Services, Maureen Hayes, for her life-long efforts to bring together children and authors/illustrators.
ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children.Ã 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 children through libraries.Ã To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s Web site at www.ala.org/alsc.
Members of the 2009 Maureen Hayes Award Committee include: Linda Ernst, chair, King County (Wash.) Library System; Ã Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York, N.Y.; Richard M. Kerper, Millersville University, Millersville, Pa.; Kate Houston Mitchoff, Multnomah County (Ore.) Library; Mary Pruitt, Denton ISD, Texas; Michelle Fadlalla, Simon & Schuster, New York, N.Y.
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