Salt Lake County PL receives 2013 Hayes Award

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded the 2013 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award to the Salt Lake County Library Services, West Jordan, Utah.

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 might otherwise not have had the opportunity to hear from a nationally known author/illustrator.

Through a partnership with nine different organizations, the Salt Lake County Public Library will use the funds to help host the Diá de los Ninos Festival that will take place on April 27, 2013 for children and families of all ethnic backgrounds to celebrate reading in their community.  Salt Lake County is home to a large immigrant population with 20 percent of the population speaking a language other than English.

The Diá de los Ninos Festival will feature author John Scieszka who will provide a keynote address, a podcast interview and book signing.  Activities at the highly accessible Viridian Event Center will go on throughout the day and be tied to Mr. Scieszka’s books.  Based on the Every Child Ready to Read early learning practices, kids will talk, sing, read, write and play their way through Scieszka’s books. Children will be driving cars along a laid-out route for Welcome to Trucktown; a puppet show and puppet-making activity with The Stinky Cheese Man; and a communal writing project for Guys Write for Guys.  Book give-aways, mini-grants for local schools to hold Diá events, and multicultural performances will also be part of this exciting literacy festival.

“All the committee members wish they could attend this well-planned and fun Scieszka Fiesta,” said Nancy Baumann, Grant Administration Committee chair.  “The organization and creativity in planning such a large event has been well thought out and promises to be an occasion that will be talked about for a long time.”

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 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 website at www.ala.org/alsc.

Members of the 2013 ALSC Grant Administration Committee include:  Nancy Baumann, chair, University of Missouri School of Information Science & Learning Technologies; Krista Britton, Prince William (Va.) Schools; Jonathan Hunt, Modesto (Calif.) City Schools; Julie Danielson, Smyrna, Tenn.; Ursula Jacobs-Guidry, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, N.C.; Amy Koester, St. Charles City-County Library District, Mo.; Deanna Mae Romriell, Salt Lake City (Utah) Public Library; Patty Saidenberg, New York, N.Y.; and Destinee Sutton, King County Library System, Burien (Wash.) Library.