Pennsylvania student selected Step Up to the Plate @ your library® grand-prize winner

Megan McFarlane

Campaign Coordinator

Campaign for America’s Libraries

ALA Public Information Office

312-280-2148

mmcfarlane@ala.org

NEWS

For Immediate Release

October 6, 2009

CHICAGO – Eleven-year-old Elizabeth Ann Bishop has a Baseball Hall of Fame connection - her neighbor is the widow of Hall of Famer and Chicago White Sox player Nellie Fox. Now Bishop is going to the Hall of Fame herself, as the winner of Step up to the Plate @ your library®.

Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith recently drew Bishop’s name as the grand-prize winner of the Step Up to the Plate @ your library program.

Developed by the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Step Up to the Plate officially wrapped up its fourth season with the national drawing. The winner was randomly chosen from eligible contestants who correctly answered a series of baseball trivia questions developed by the Hall of Fame’s library staff.

As the grand-prize winner, Bishop, a soccer player and frequent library user from Chambersburg, Pa., will travel with her family to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the Hall of Fame’s World Series Gala on Saturday, Oct. 31. She will also receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum and archives.

“We are lucky to have a branch library a quarter of a mile from our house,” said Bishop’s mother, Kelly, who visits the library every month with her daughter. “The library has computer classes and videos, but we mainly use it for the books and to work on school projects.”

Bishop entered the contest at her former elementary school, where school library media specialist April Cole encouraged her fifth grade students to participate in Step Up to the Plate during their library period. Cole also encouraged students who didn’t finish answering their questions to visit the Grove Family Library, where she also works. In fact, Cole also partnered with a friend who teaches Internet and sports classes at the local high school so that the high school student could join in the fun too.

Season Four of Step Up to the Plate @ your library teamed up two American classics - baseball and libraries - to promote the importance of information literacy skills and increase awareness of the library as an essential information resource. People of all ages were encouraged to visit their library and answer a series of trivia questions. Questions were inspired by the history and diversity of our national pastime.

The fourth season of the program kicked off during Youth Baseball Week (April 13-19, 2009) and was a featured program during the week’s celebration at The National Baseball Hall of Fame. More than 6,000 fans visited the Hall of Fame during the week.

In addition to the grand-prize winner, 20 first-prize winners were drawn prior to the grand-prize ceremony in Cooperstown. Each winner will receive a commemorative hardbound copy of the Hall of Fame Yearbook, a Hall of Fame baseball, a commemorative set of 20 Hall of Fame baseball cards, a copy of a book from the “Sluggers Series,” by Loren Long and Phil Bildner, published by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, a pair of youth batting gloves from Akadema Pro and an ALA Graphics “History Lives” poster featuring Jackie Robinson.

First-place winners include:

10 and under: DJ Shaffer of Milltown, N.J.; Tom Roe of Stanwood, Wash.; Kaitlyn McMann of Hockessin , Del.; Trevor Adams of Poplar Bluff, Mo.; and Logan Hird of Zion, Ill.
11-13: Jesus Zayas Bermúdez of Santa Isable, Puerto Rico; Jared Morris of Greenville, R.I.; Ariana Gladieux of New Berlin, Wis.; Nick Young of Yardley, Pa.; and Brett Neilon of Coto de Caza, Calif.
14-17: Katelyn Thornton of Simpsonville, S.C.; Eric Willey of Townville, Pa.; Justin Hope of Guy Mills, Pa.; Tyler Owen of Blackshear, Ga.; Robbie Scott of Mineola, Texas
18 and up: Vince Guerrieri of Fremont, Ohio; Lisa Taylor of Lavallette, N.J.; Ryan Frasier of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Karol L. McGowan of Guy Mills, Pa.; and Spencer Northway of Davenport, Iowa.

Libraries that sent in the most entries also received prizes. Maplewood Jr./Sr. High School library of Guy Mills, Pa., brought in almost 300 entries and will receive a $100 bookstore gift certificate and a signed Ozzie Smith baseball. Other library winners, including Davenport Public Library, Davenport, Iowa, Grove Family Library of Chambersburg, Pa., and Hockessin Library of Hokessin, Del., will receive a $50 ALA Graphics gift certificate.

Step Up to the Plate @ your library is part of 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 by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations that advocate the importance of the library in American society.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, a Partner in the Campaign for America’s Libraries, is a not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of the game and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience, as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to our National Pastime.

Other Campaign Partners are the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Dollar General, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Univision Radio, Verizon and Woman's Day magazine.

For more information, go to
www.ala.org/baseball.