ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

National Library Week celebrates connections

By Linda Wallace

Linda Wallace is director of the ALA Public Information Office, e-mail: lwallace@ala.org; Mary Somerville is director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System and president of ALA; mpres@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

National Library Week, April 13–19, will celebrate the ways libraries connect children with fun and learning. The theme is “Kids Connect @ the Library.” If you think the theme doesn’t connect with your college or university library, think again. Some suggestions:

• Join in giving tours of the information superhighway on Wednesday, April 16, as part of the second Log-on @ the Library Day. An estimated thousand libraries participated in the first event held in 1996, including Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, population 10,500, which conducted Internet demonstrations for local high school students and the public. Have staff wear “Cybrarian” sports hats and t-shirts available from the ALA Graphics catalog.

• Encourage faculty and students to enter the Kids Connect @ the Library Contest. A $20,000 grand prize will be awarded for the best 150 words from a parent about how the library helps his or her family connect to books, computers, better grades, free fun, and more. Contact the ALA Public Information Office for a free poster/tip sheet.

• Display the handsome National Library Week materials available from ALA Graphics—not in the library but in campus day care centers and School of Education facilities. The Bank Street College of Education in New York will sponsor a folklore festival with children and adults telling folk tales to one another.

• Get rid of the “kid.” Make your own posters and banners with a shortened version of the theme “Connect @ the Library.” Publish a David Letterman style list of 10 ways you can connect at the campus library. Number 10: Where else can you hunker down for days on end skipping classes and have everyone think you’re a model student? Number 1: Where else can you find … ? (fill in the blank).

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• Take the America Reads Challenge. President Clinton has set a goal of having all children reading independently by third grade. His challenge provides a timely opportunity for librarians to take a leadership role. Start or join a coalition of libraries and community agencies concerned with youth. Mobilize your students as volunteer tutors to help children improve their reading skills.

• Write and place a story in the local newspaper about how technology is revolutionizing libraries as did Marcia Dworak, director of the Thorndike Library at the College of the Atlantic, with help from the college’s public affairs director during National Library Week 1996. Write a letter to the editor or an editorial column for the local newspaper. See ALA’s “Kids can’t wait” National Library Week tip sheet for examples (available on the ALA Web page or from the Public Information Office).

• Post a National Library Week message on your Internet homepage. Send e-mail messages inviting administrators, faculty, and others to the library for coffee, door prizes, and other festivities.

• Get students involved as library advocates. Recruit campus sports stars to visit schools and public libraries in the community and talk about the importance of reading and using the library.

Resources

• Colorful posters, t-shirts, and other library promotional items with the “Kids Connect @ the Library” theme (and without) can be ordered from the fall ALA Graphics catalog. To receive a free catalog, call (800) 545-2433, ext. 5046. To place an order, call (800) 545-2433, press 7. For bulk or institutional sales use ext. 3252.

• Kids can’t wait… Kids Need Libraries, a handsome, photo-filled brochure directed at community leaders and policymakers is available from the ALA Public Information Office; phone: (800) 545-2433, ext. 5044/41; fax: (312) 944-8520; e-mail: pio@ala.org.

• Kids can’t wait … Library Advocacy Now, President’s Paper by Virginia Mathews. Single copy, free. $25/25 copies. Contact the ALA Public Information Office (see above).

• Kids can’t wait …, a free videotape with ALA President Mary Somerville discussing why “kids can’t wait” and how the public can support libraries. Designed for showing to the public. Contact the ALA Public Information Office (see above).

• The Library Advocacy Now! Network provides training and support materials and alerts on key national legislative issues. Free. Contact the ALA Public Information Office (see above). To sign on to the ALA Library Advocacy Now! listserv, send a message to listproc@ala.org. Leave the subject blank. In the body type: “subscribe aladnow” followed by your first and last name.

• Subscribe to the ALA Washington Office Newsline, an online newsletter offering timely updates on federal legislation and policies. Send the e-mail message described above. The list name is ala-wo.

For more information about National Library Week and ALA’s advocacy efforts, see the ALA Web page at http://www.ala.org. Or contact the ALA Public Information Office, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; (800) 545-2433, ext. 5044/41; fax: (312) 944-8520; e-mail: pio@ ala.org. ■