Some of the most creative ways of celebrating National Library Card Sign-up month in September have come from local libraries.

For example, Carolynn Muci, marketing and public relations director for the Mount Prospect Public Library in Mount Prospect, Ill., said her library had “Get a Library card” added to the back-to-school supply lists at each of the local schools. In August, she said, there was a 30-percent increase in the number of children receiving library cards.

She added, “For National Library Card Sign-up Month, we work with businesses to offer a discount to people who show their Library card during the month of September. Want the discount? Get a Library card.”

The library created a brochure and a link on its website.

“We started with 19 businesses in 2008, 57 in 2009, and this year we are up to 78 businesses. We announced the program in our newsletter and our phones have been ringing off the hook ever since. People are eager to get their hands on the list of discounts. I have also received several calls from businesses wanting to participate next year,” she said. “We have pretty high penetration of Library cardholders, so we treat it more as a reward for having a card, but we still do see people coming in to get a card so they can get a discount.”

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On Saturday, a Read Out at Chicago’s historic Bughouse Square kicked off Banned Books Week. The Read Out featured readings from the Top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2009.

Among the performers was the City Lit Theater Company of Chicago. In this video, the group reads from “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler, No. 8 on the list. It was challenged for offensive language, being sexually explicit and unsuitability to certain age groups.

And here is more video from the event, courtesy of AL Focus.

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On Saturday, a Read Out in Chicago’s historic Bughouse Square kicked off Banned Books Week. One of those attending was a retired librarian from North Carolina, Judith Marsh.

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ALA President Roberta Stevens has posted on the Huffington Post blog about Banned Books Week. The article is titled “Yes, There Is Still Book Banning in the United States”

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The ALA — along with the McCormick Foundation’s Civics Program and the Newberry Library — will host a Read-Out from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25, from noon to 2:00 PM, in Bughouse Square (Washington Square Park, 901 N Clark St., across from the Newberry Library) to kick off Banned Books Week 2010.

In event of inclement weather, the Read-Out will move to Ruggles Hall in the Newberry Library, at 60 West Walton St.

ALA President Roberta Stevens will welcome highly acclaimed banned and challenged author and emcee, Chris Crutcher, and participants will read passages from books featured on the top ten most frequently challenged book list of 2009. The event features Lauren Myracle, author of ttyl, ttfn, and l8r g8r — the most frequently challenged book series of 2009; Rick Kogan, of WGN’s Sunday Papers; Elizabeth Taylor, literary editor of the Chicago Tribune; Kristin Pekoll, the young adult librarian who fought to keep Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and other titles in the West Bend (Wis.) public library; Kent Oliver, president of the Freedom to Read Foundation; CityLit Theatre Company; Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Readers Theatre Project; and more.

Crutcher and Myracle will be signing books following the program at 2 p.m. A limited number of their books will be given away for free to all attendees.

In the video below, Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, says a few words about the event.

For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks.

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The State Library of North Carolina is following the lead of libraries all across the country by reminding parents and children that a library card is the smartest school supply of all.

This year marks the fifth annual statewide Library Card Sign-up Month campaign. Since 2006, the State Library of North Carolina has created an annual public awareness campaign featuring the American Library Association’s Smartest Card. This year’s campaign features North Carolina poet laureate Cathy Smith Bowers.

Bowers donated her time and image to the creation of a public service announcement (PSA) and a podcast. In addition to the PSA and podcast, Bowers helped kick off the campaign with an open mike night at the Asheboro Branch of the Randolph County Public Library, where she was joined by several local poets on Sept. 8.

Previous spokespeople in North Carolina have included world renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis, actress Andie MacDowell, former Carolina Hurricanes co-Captain Kevyn Adams and North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue.

In addition to the State Library of North Carolina, libraries across the country have been hard at work promoting Library Card Sign-up Month.

The Mount Prospect (Ill.) Public Library works with the local public school system by including “Get a Library Card” in the back-to-school supply lists at local schools. In August, the library saw a 30 percent increase in the number of children receiving library cards. The library also reminds adults of the value of having a library card by partnering with 78 local businesses to give discounts to cardholders.

The Winfield (Kan.) Public Library partners with its local school system to sign up 2nd graders for their first library card. The library sends the applications to the school, which hands them to the children for their parents to fill out and send back to school. Besides access to all the resources at the library, students who sign up for a library card have an extra incentive, as the class that signs up the greatest percentage of children receives a party.

Bismarck (N.D.) Public Library is promoting Library Card Sign-up Month using the Smartest Card logo developed by ALA. Library staff took photos of local celebrities and business owners holding a giant library card. Photos were branded with the Smartest Card logo and displayed throughout the library to promote the library’s new website.

The Norfolk (Va.) Public Library provides new cardholders with incentives, including illuminated key chains for new adult cardholders and mood pencils for children and teens. The library also works with local businesses to provide coupons and discounts to cardholders during September.

Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when public and school libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. Library Card Sign-up Month is sponsored by the ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries.

Libraries looking for materials to help promote Library Card Sign-up Month locally can download a print PSA featuring NBA Star and Library Card Sign-up Month Honorary Chair Dwyane Wade. ALA will customize the print PSA at no charge with a library’s logo. For information and to download PSAs visit www.ala.org/librarycardsignup.

Newly redesigned Smartest Card logos are available at www.ala.org/librarycardsignup. Other promotional materials, including a sample press release, letter to the editor, proclamation and audio PSAs are also available on the website.

In addition, the atyourlibrary.org website is looking for photos of library users with the “smartest card” – a library card. To upload photos, visit atyourlibrary.org’s Flickr page. Photos will be shown on the atyourlibrary.org home page throughout the month of September.

The Campaign for America’s Libraries, (www.ala.org/@yourlibrary) is ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe – use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations.

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