Public Programs Post

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office (PPO), in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division on ALA, is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the second annual Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming.

Any elementary or middle school library, public or private, is eligible to apply. School library programs that serve children in any combination of grades K-8 are also encouraged to apply.

Revised award guidelines and the application are available at www.ala.org/jaffarianaward , and are due by December 1, 2007. The winning library will be notified in April 2008 and announced in June 2008 as part of ALA’s 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim.

The Sara Jaffarian Award is an annual award recognizing a school library that has conducted an exemplary program or program series in the humanities. It consists of a $4,000 cash award, a plaque and the promotion of the winner as a model program for other school libraries.

To be considered, applicant libraries must have conducted a humanities program or program series during the prior school year (2006-2007).

For more information, contact the Public Programs Office at 312.280.5053 or publicprograms@ala.org.

The We the People Bookshelf, a collection of classic books for young readers, is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) We the People program, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office.

Each year, NEH identifies a theme important to the nation's heritage and selects books that embody that theme to build the We the People Bookshelf. The theme for the 2007-2008 Bookshelf is “Created Equal.” Public and school (K-12) libraries are invited to apply online from September 10, 2007 through January 25, 2008. A total of 3,000 libraries will be selected to receive the “Created Equal” Bookshelf. Awards will be announced on March 31, 2008.

The guidelines and online application will be found at http://publicprograms.ala.org/bookshelf

PRIME TIME Family Reading Time® an award-winning reading, discussion, and storytelling series based on illustrated children's books has new grants available. Information about the guidelines and application may be found here.

Statewide organizations including state libraries, state humanities councils, centers for the book, and library associations are invited to apply. For the first time, applications are also invited from library systems.

National expansion is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and is a cooperative endeavor with the ALA Public Programs Office.

The receipt deadline for applications is November 1, 2007.

The itinerary dates for libraries hosting the Lewis & Clark and Benjamin Franklin traveling exhibitions have been posted on the PPO website.

To view the itinerary for Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country visit http://www.ala.org/ala/ppo/currentprograms/lewisclark/lewisitinerary.htm

To view the itinerary for Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World visit http://www.ala.org/ala/ppo/currentprograms/benjaminfranklin/benitinerary.htm

If you have questions about these exhibitions, please contact publicprograms@ala.org