Libraries celebrate National Library Week 2010
Contact: Megan McFarlane
Campaign Coordinator
Campaign for America’s Libraries
ALA Public Information Office
312-280-2148
mmcfarlane@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
April 12, 2010
CHICAGO – In today’s tough economic times, libraries are helping their communities thrive by offering a lot more than just books. More than 99 percent percent of libraries offer free public access to the Internet, while 65 percent provide job-seeking services.
The Boyd County (Ky.) Public Library, in celebration of the National Library Week theme, Communities thrive @ your library, hosted a community fair. Community groups were on hand to discuss their programs and services and sign up new members and volunteers.
The Mary Kintz Bevevino Library at Misericordia University of Dallas, Pa. also embraced the Communities thrive @ your library theme by utilizing university students to reach out and promote collaboration involving the university, library and community to better meet the needs of each. A National Library Week presentation, “Helping Our Communities Thrive,” featured Misericordia students discussing the service projects they have undertaken throughout the regional community.
The Palm Beach County (Fla.) Library Association celebrated Celebrate National Library Week with area libraries in the first-ever county-wide library treasure hunt. Public, academic, school, museum and corporate libraries provided clues, and participants searched for answers at local libraries and on library Web sites. The treasure hunter with the most correct answers at the end of the week won a Sony Reader.
This National Library Week held special significance for the Poudre River Public Library District, the 2010 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant winner. As the winner, the library connects Communities thrive @ your library with the concept of the library as the “original renewable resource.” The theme will be promoted through a series of programs and activities centered on the concept of renewable resources.
Programs included partnering with the Friends of the Library and a local Girl Scout troop to organize a children’s book swap. In addition, the library hosted a “green” day for new parents, who learned tips ranging from using cloth diapers to buying toys made from recycled plastic. Throughout the week, the library will also give away CFL light bulbs, magnets made out of recycled library cards and recycled book bags.
Also, An Evening with Neil Gaiman, hosted by the Jessamine County (Ky.) Public Library in collaboration with the American Library Association’s (ALA) Campaign for America’s Libraries, is now available at
www.atyourlibrary.org. Gaiman was the 2010 Honorary Chair of National Library Week and the 2009 Newbery Medal winner for “The Graveyard Book.”
National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the ALA and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use. Join us next year, April 10-16. National Library Week 2011 tools for librarians will be posted here and available through the
ALA Store in October 2010.
Libraries across the country are encouraged to share their National Library Week stories on the National Library Week community in ALA Connect, the home of the ALA’s online communities. To join, visit
http://connect.ala.org/node/85425.
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
