Basketball star Candace Parker is the Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign up Month

Contact: Megan McFarlane


Campaign Coordinator


Campaign for America’s Libraries


Public Information Office


312-280-2148


mmcfarlane@ala.org

For Immediate Release


May 5, 2009

CHICAGO
– Olympic gold medalist and 2008 WNBA Rookie of the Year Candace Parker will let Americans know that a library card is the “smartest card” in every wallet.

As Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign up Month in September, Parker will be featured in print and radio public service announcements (PSAs). The American Library Association (ALA) will place the PSAs in magazines and on radio stations across the country.

PSAs are available for free download to libraries looking to promote Library Card Sign-up Month locally. In addition to the PSAs, librarians can download sample media materials and Web badges. All resources can be downloaded at
www.ala.org/librarycardsignup.

Library Card Sign-up Month was launched in 1987. Library Card Sign-up Month is a time to remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. Since then, thousands of public and school libraries join each fall in a national effort to ensure every child does just that.

The Campaign for America’s Libraries is the 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.

The “Smartest Card” was created by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of ALA, to promote the library card as the most important card in every wallet.