The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is pleased to announce the 2008 national grant competition. The Foundation's grant-making program seeks to develop or expand projects that are designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children. A total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded; no grant request should exceed $65,000. To download the application, please click here.
Should you have questions, please call Kiev Richardson at (202) 955-6183 between the hours of 1:00-5:00 p.m. EDT or e-mail your questions to krichardson@cfncr.org. Please include your telephone number. We look forward to receiving your application and learning about your proposed family literacy project.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Benita Somerfield202.955.6183

John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award competition open for 2008

Competition is open now for the 2008 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award contest, sponsored by the H. W. Wilson Company, the H. W. Wilson Foundation and the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The deadline for entries is December 6, 2007. Inaugurated in 1946, the John Cotton Dana Award honors effective strategic communication: the art and craft of getting the right message to the right audience at the right time and getting the right results. Entries may represent any library public relations program that supports a specific project, goal, activity or a sustained ongoing program (e.g. the promotion of a summer reading program, a year-long centennial celebration, fundraising for a new college library, an awareness campaign or an innovative partnership in the community). Entries are judged on the quality of their strategic communication campaign as presented in a clear, concise visual display and narrative. Details, tips, evaluation guidelines, downloadable entry forms, entry checklists and examples of previous winning entries are available online at www.hwwilson.com/jcdawards/nw_jcd.htm. The contest is open to all libraries and agencies that promote library service. Entries can be for calendar year 2007 (January-December), school year 2006-2007 (Fall-Spring) or any special project that ends in 2007. A committee of the LAMA Public Relations and Marketing Section judges the completed entries at the 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting. The awards and $3,000 cash grants will be presented during the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. For more information, visit www.ala.org/lama and click on navigation item "Awards,” or contact Fred Reuland, LAMA marketing specialist, at 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; phone 1-800-545-2433 x5032; e-mail freuland@ala.org; fax:(312)280-2169. The mission of the Library Administration and Management Association (www.ala.org/lama) is to encourage and nurture current and future library leaders, and to develop and promote outstanding leadership and management practices. LAMA is a division of the American Library Association. An icon in the library community for 108 years, H.W. Wilson (www.hwwilson.com) is dedicated to providing the highest-quality web and print resources in the world. H.W. Wilson products are familiar to generations of library users as standard tools in college, public and professional libraries worldwide.

Library Card Sign-up Month

The American Library Association (ALA) announces the release of five new radio public service announcements (PSAs) that are now available to help libraries promote Library Card Sign-up Month in September and the library card as the “smartest card in your wallet.”
The PSAs can be downloaded for free at www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and are available in 10, 15 and 30-second MP3 formats. Libraries are encouraged to share the PSAs with local radio stations.
Other free tools include sample press materials, a list of “52 Ways to Use Your Library Card” and “Smartest Card” logos. Press materials and “Smartest Card” logos are available in both English and Spanish. Examples from libraries that have used giant “Smartest Cards” in photo opportunities also appear on the Web page.
Libraries are encouraged to let the ALA Public Information Office know how they are celebrating Library Card Sign-up Month. Visit www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and click on “Share your story.” The strongest examples will be shared with the press as part of ALA’s national media relations efforts.
Observed in the month of September since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when ALA and libraries across the county remind parents and kids that a library card is the most important school supply of all.