ALSC 2010 Hayes Award Winner announced
Contact: Jenny Najduch
ALSC Marketing Specialist
(312) 280-4026
NEWS
For Immediate Release,
February 10, 2010
CHICAGO—The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded the 2010 Maureen Hayes Award to the Abbeville (S.C.) County Library System. 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 Abbeville County Public Library serves a population of 26,167, of which 2,105 children are under the age of six. Of these children, 37 percent come from single parent households and 18 percent live below the poverty line. The number of children in grades kindergarten through fifth with free or reduced lunch is more than 67 percent. For these children who do not have much, seeing an author/illustrator will have an amazing impact.
The library plans to host the author visit at the Abbeville Opera House, located in the center of the town. They will also be working with Abbeville County First Steps and the Abbeville County School District to get the word out to children in the area and provide support on the day of the event. The library also plans to host additional storytimes and events at the library leading up to the visit to promote the event and build excitement in the community.
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. 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. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s Web site at
www.ala.org/alsc.
Members of the 2010 ALSC Grant Administration Committee include: Linda Ernst, King County (Wash.) Library System; Lynn Piper Carpenter, Birmingham (Ala.) Public Library; Stacy Dillon, LREI, N.Y.; Peter Howard, Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library; Richard Michael Kerper, Millersville University, Pa.; April Mazza, Wayland (Mass.) Free Public Library; Stephanie Ann Simpson, N.C.; Margie Stern, Delaware County (Pa.) Library System; and Tracy-Lyn Van Dyne, Connetquot (N.Y.) Public Library.
