CHICAGO – The efforts libraries make to help patrons obtain accurate financial information will be highlighted on CNN Money, Saturday, Feb. 28 at 9:30 a.m. EST. American Library Association President Jim Rettig will appear in the story. A longer Web video version of the story as well as a CNN Web article will be posted following the broadcast.

Libraries report that they are providing accurate financial information to consumers all over the country. For example, “Smart Investing @ your library” has given away more than $1.7 million to help fund libraries’ efforts to provide library patrons with effective, unbiased financial education resources and empower library patrons to make smart financial decisions for both long-term investing and day-to-day money matters. FINRA Investor Education Foundation sponsors the initiative, which is administered by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the ALA.

New York Public Library is an example of a library holding programs such as “Mutual Funds for Beginners” and “Understanding the Foreclosure,” taking resume writing and real estate classes, career counseling sessions and attending lectures from guest speakers on how to create and implement business plans.

Past placements on this issue include the NBC Nightly News, Washington Post, Parade Magazine, The New York Times blog Freakonomics, CBS Evening News on Dec. 31 and Feb. 2, CNN as it appeared on Los Angeles’s KCAL-TV and an op-ed in the Huffington Post.

Stay tuned for a link to the Feb. 28 CNN broadcast…

Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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To celebrate Black History Month, Visibility @ your library, the Public Information Office and Campaign for America’s Libraries blog, is highlighting the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and its fortieth anniversary celebration.

Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney, vice-president and executive editor of Scholastic, Inc., calls the awards, ‘40 and Fabulous,’ in the February 1, 2009, issue of Booklist. She marvels that “what started with a scattering of librarians bringing a candle into a dark room has grown a hundredfold to thousands of committed people – librarians, publishers, teachers, parents, retailers – who hold a bright ray of determination” for the Coretta Scott King Awards. She serves as the Honorary Chair of the awards and leads an assemblage to publishers dedicated to the award’s public awareness.

The awards are also featured on Thinkfinity.org/@yourlibrary, a collection of resources featuring librarian specific content from ALA. Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation’s comprehensive program and online portal to 55,000 standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and other educational resources provided in partnership with many of the nation’s leading educational and literacy organizations. Content for Thinkfinity.org is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation’s leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy.

This year’s King award winners include Kadir Nelson, author of “We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball,” and Floyd Cooper, illustrator of “The Blacker the Berry.” Shadra Strickland, illustrator of “Bird,” is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner.

Three King Author Honor Books were selected: “The Blacker the Berry” by Joyce Carol Thomas, published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; “Keeping the Night Watch” by Hope Anita Smith, published by Henry Holt and Company; and “Becoming Billie Holiday” by Carole Boston Weatherford, published by Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc.

Three Illustrator Honor Books were selected: “We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball” written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, published by Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group; “Before John Was a Jazz Giant” by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls, published by Henry Holt and Company; and “The Moon Over Star” by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.

The awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the ALA’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and the graphic arts.

The 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award Jury include Jury Chair Darwin Henderson, University of Cincinnati; Eunice Anderson, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md.; Alan R. Bailey, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.; Brenda M. Hunter, Atlanta, Ga.; Jonda C. McNair, Clemson University, Clemson, SC; Martha Ruff, Prince George’s County Public Library, Oxon Hill, Md.; and Robin L. Smith, Ensworth School, Nashville, Tenn.

Committee Chair Deborah Taylor appeared on the NBC “Today Show” recently. Visit http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/28873383#28873383 to see her appearance. Also, listen to an interview with Satia Orange, director, OLOS regarding the awards: http://www.pio.ala.org/visibility/?p=218

Submitted by Mark Gould, Director, Public Information Office

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Members can strengthen and improve the programs and services the American Library Association (ALA) provides by participating in a member survey from Feb. 23 through March 15.

In this video, ALA President Jim Rettig and Cathleen Bourdon, ALA Associate Executive Director of Communications and Member Relations, talk about the significance of the survey.

Every five years, ALA conducts a major evaluation of programs and services and plans for the future. “Members who participate in the survey can help ALA evaluate our progress in meeting the goals in our 2010 strategic plan and help shape our 2015 plan,” Rettig said.

“I encourage all members to respond to the survey and have a voice in their association’s future,” Rettig said.

A series of discussion forums will be held at state and regional meetings in spring and fall 2009 to solicit additional feedback.

Members can go to http://www.ala.org/2015survey and log in using their seven-digit ALA member number found on their membership card as well as the mailing label of “American Libraries.” – Contributed by Mark Gould, Director, ALA Public Information Office

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Survey invites members to evaluate, shape ALA strategic plan

New ALA division blends two strong voices for advocacy

Hogan, Matthews, and Young elected to ALA Executive Board

State funding for many public libraries on decline

ALA staff members to discuss ALA connections

ALA President Announces Second Round of Virtual Poster Sessions

Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee announces 2009 Book Donation Grant Winners

Legislator @ your library aims to get politicians into school libraries

Organize and manage your library construction project

During times of economic need, American’s turn to ‘old friend’

Division News

AASL’s Exploratorium to feature best practices in school library media program development

Linda Krikos receives 2009 ACRL WSS Career Achievement Award

ALSC preconference shines spotlight on intellectual freedom

ALSC selects three libraries for third annual Bookapalooza program

PLA 2009 award winners represent excellence in public libraries

Community partnerships, older adult services featured in timely RUSA RSS preconference

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As the economy continues to take a hit, the surge in library use is higher than ever. With Americans flocking to their local library to take advantage of the free resources available to them, media outlets across the nation continue to take notice.  CNN is the latest media outlet to cover this  trend.  

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, CNN ran a segment reporting that “many Americans are turning to an ‘old friend’ to aid in their job search…the public library.”  American Library Association (ALA) President Jim Rettig also appeared in the segment highlighting the value of a library card.

Past placements include the NBC Nightly News, Washington Post, Parade Magazine, The New York Times blog Freakonomics, CBS Evening News  on Dec. 31 and Feb. 2 and an op-ed in the Huffington Post.

For more information on this increase in library use, the ALA Public Information Office (PIO) has developed publicity tools to help librarians tell their stories in their communities. Press releases, talking points and an FAQ on the surge in library visits can be found in the “Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit.”

- Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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In the latest in a series of videos in which respected Americans describe how they value libraries and librarians, astronaut Sally Ride recounts the importance of libraries to her storied life and career.

According to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, “Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a 1-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. She subsequently performed as an on-orbit capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.”

She went on to serve as a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on June 18, 1983. This was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a five-person crew. She served in the same capacity on STS 41-G, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Oct. 5, 1984. This contained the largest crew to fly to date.

Ride subsequently was assigned to NASA Headquarters as special assistant to the administrator for long range and strategic planning.

In 2001 she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science [http://www.sallyridescience.com] to motivate girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology.

The author of five science books for children, she is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Contributed by Steve Zalusky, Manager of Communications, ALA Public Information Office

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