The ALA would like to remind everyone that April 12 – 18 is National Library Week.

National Library Week activities include:

• Monday, April 13: The ALA’s Public Information Office (PIO) will release “The State of America’s Libraries” report detailing the impact libraries have on millions of Americans.
• Tuesday, April 14 is National Library Workers Day, which recognizes all library workers and their contributions.
• Wednesday, April 15: The “Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2008” list will be released from the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. The list will include the reasons behind the challenges, as well as the overall number of challenges received.
• Thursday, April 16 is Support Teen Literature Day. Libraries will host programs to raise awareness that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today’s teens.

Celebrate School Library Media Month during April, sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the ALA.

– Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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Public, academic (university, college and community college), and medical libraries can apply to host a new exhibit, “Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine.” Applications must be received by May 1. The exhibit is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in cooperation with the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Information on the exhibit and how to apply is featured on Thinkfinity @ your library. 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

Using materials from the NLM’s History of Medicine collections, the exhibition explores Harry Potter’s world, its roots in Renaissance science and the ethical questions that affected not only the wizards in J.K. Rowling’s books, but also the historical thinkers featured in the series. Exhibition panels feature the works of 15th- and 16th-century alchemists, naturalists and occultists, and explore the intersection between the Harry Potter novels and Renaissance thinkers, lore and practices.

Following the application process, 12 libraries will be selected to host the exhibition for a four-week display period between September 2009 and November 2010.

Established in 1992, the ALA Public Programs Office has an exemplary track record of developing library programming initiatives, including the acclaimed reading and discussion series “Let’s Talk About It!,” film discussion programs on humanities themes, traveling exhibitions, LIVE! @ your library® and other programs. Recently, it has established the Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment fund created to help all types of libraries across the country bring communities together through cultural programming (www.ala.org/ccf).

Submitted by Mark Gould, Director, ALA Public Information Office

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The Pura Belpré book awards, which are named after the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, are being highlighted on Thinkfinity.org.

The awards are presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

The 2009 award winners are currently featured on Thinkfinity @ your library, 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.

The 2009 Belpré awards, which were announced in January during the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, will be presented to Margarita Engle, author of “The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom” (Henry Holt, 2008) and Yuyi Morales, illustrator of “Just in Case” (a Neal Porter Book published by Roaring Brook Press, 2008), at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago in July.  Several Honor Books were also named; the complete list is available at Thinkfinity.org.

Pura Belpré was a children’s librarian, storyteller and author. During her tenure at the New York Public Library from the 1920s through the 1970s, she enriched the lives of Puerto Rican children in the U.S.A. through her pioneering work of preserving and disseminating Puerto Rican folklore. She was also an author in her own right, publishing such works as “Pérez and Martina: A Portorican Folk Tale” (Warne, 1932; Viking, 1961), “The Tiger and the Rabbit and Other Tales” (Lippincott, 1965), and “The Rainbow Colored Horse” (Warne, 1978).

The awards are co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA), an ALA affiliate.

Submitted by Mark Gould, Director, ALA Public Information Office

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As more than 3,000 librarians and staff from college and university libraries across the country gear up for the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 14th National Conference in Seattle March 12-15, the Seattle Times online published an op-ed highlighting the important role academic libraries and librarians play in a college student’s education.

The op-ed titled “Academic libraries foster key skills in next generation,” appeared in the March 4 online edition of the Times and was written by ACRL President HYPERLINK “http://wikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/Erika_C._Linke” Erika Linke and Dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington Betsy Wilson.

“Academic librarians help students overcome the mistaken idea that if a resource doesn’t appear online it doesn’t exist, is a key role for librarians,” said Wilson and Linke.

ACRL National Conferences draw librarians and staff from community college and university libraries nationwide to discuss a host of pressing issues affecting higher education. This year’s conference theme is “Pushing the Edge, Explore, Engage, Extend,” and will be held at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle.

– Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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Check out this week’s issue of TV Guide to see the Public Information Office’s new Jamie Lee Curtis public service announcement (PSA). The PSA features Ms. Curtis, this year’s National Library Week Honorary Chair, and features this year’s National Library Week theme, “Worlds connect @ your library.” The PSA is on the inside back cover of the magazine, which has a donated ad value of $204,500.

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We’ve mentioned Thinkfinity.org/@yourlibrary here before.  Have you checked out this new “front door” to explore Thinkfinity.org content yet?

This week, Thinkfinity.org/@yourlibrary highlights YALSA’s Teen Tech Week (March 8-14).  Teen Tech week was first celebrated in 2007 with the theme Get Connected @ your library. Teen Tech Week is a national initiative encouraging teens to become competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks, and videogames. Teen Tech Week also recognizes that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology.

Trainers from Thinkfinity.org were on hand during the ALA Midwinter Meeting, as well, demonstrating how librarians can use the site.  If you missed them in Denver, you can still learn more: Thinkfinity.org offers free training for all educators.  Click on the links in the “Professional Development” box for more information.

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation’s online portal to 55,000 standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and other educational resources provided with many of the nation’s leading educational and literacy organizations.

Contributed by Megan Humphrey, Manager, Campaign for America’s Libraries

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