ALA-APA invites library staff, Ã libraries to celebrate 6th Annual National Library Workers Day
Contact: Jenifer Grady
Director, ALA-APA
(312) 280-2424
NEWS
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2009
CHICAGO – The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) encourages all library staff and patrons nationwide to participate in National Library Workers Day on Tuesday, April 14, during National Library Week. National Library Workers Day is a time to honor the contributions of all library workers, including librarians, support staff and others who make library services possible. This year, ALA-APA unveils its new Student Star campaign and merchandise line to foster student worker participation. Library patrons and staff can nominate their favorite library worker for a Star or a new Student Star by visiting the NLWD website at
http://www.ala-apa.org/about/nlwdstarsform.html.
For this year’s NLWD, ALA-APA is adding a special theme in the Galaxy of Stars to nominate students who work in libraries. “Having student Stars acknowledges their important role in library operations and is another opportunity for each of us to reach out to the next generation of library workers.” ALA-APA is also advocating this year a second special initiative to nominate supervisors and directors who have impressed their staff with their “Star” quality.Â
ALA-APA has expanded the NLWD marketing product line to include t-shirts, tote bags, caps, stickers and other products, all of which can be found at the ALA-APA store at
http://www.cafepress.com/ALA_APA.
Participation in NLWD is easy. Libraries can purchase NLWD projects and take some of the celebration ideas and promotional materials on the NLWD website, like inviting the public, funders and officials in to see what really happens in a library. Other libraries may choose to use this day to advocate for funding and staffing concerns.
Library workers are responsible for a wide variety of services that patrons come to expect from their libraries. They are in charge of more than just checking books in and out of the library. Library workers catalog and shelve materials; handle requests and send them to other libraries; answer phone calls and e-mails; organize programs and events; administer computer networks; update the library’s Web site; select and obtain books, CDs, videos, and databases; and much more. On this day, library workers can show the value of staff and the library to their communities.
ALA-APA, an affiliate of the American Library Association, is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to promoting the interests of library workers. ALA-APA established National Library Workers Day in 2003 in order to acknowledge the efforts of library workers nationwide. For more information on NLWD or ALA-APA, please contact Jenifer Grady at jgrady@ala.org or visit the NLWD website at
http://www.ala-apa.org/about/nlwd.html.
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