American Libraries

Loriene Roy: In the age of the Internet America’s libraries are flourishing.

Keith Michael Fiels: About 2 billion items were checked out of America's libraries last year. A lot of the things that we’ve been talking about for a long time that we call Library 2.0 have really begun to have an impact: wikis; blogs; online communities; gaming; are all ways which libraries are reaching out. But we live in a world where we're barraged by media. There are thousands and thousands of competing messages for our attention.

Mario Gonzalez: We are in a global information explosion and libraries are at the center of it all.

Keith Michael Fiels: Public awareness is absolutely critical.

Jim Rettig: Overall partnerships have generated millions of dollars of exposure for our libraries. We've realized a $13 to $1 return on our investment. Verizon is a good example of a strong corporate partner. They've given us grants to support our literacy programs. Over the last 7 years, for example, Woman's Day Magazine has run a feature annually, more than 30 pages of editorial content. That has reached more than 4 million readers every year.

Jane Chesnutt: Woman's Day is a major brand, the ALA is a major brand, people love libraries. It's a perfect little mesh of two interests there.

Jeff Idelson: Step Up to the Plate is a program the ALA and the Baseball Hall of Fame put together three years ago to encourage people of all ages to use the library to learn more about baseball and baseball history. It's a great, great partnership between the two terrific American institutions.

Announcer: And now ALA announces a new partnership with Carnegie Corporation and The New York Times: The I Love My Librarian Award, coming this summer.

Judith Gibbons: September is National Library Card Sign-up Month and the Public Awareness Committee was thrilled to be able to approach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about being our spokesperson—with his interest in literacy, the fact that he's a published author, he has his PhD, and he goes out and works with people of all ages. It's a wonderful asset when you have patrons that come into your library and say, “I saw Julie Andrews in my latest copy of Woman's Day,” or “I saw Julie Andrews do a PSA on my local television station.”

Loriene Roy: And the fact that ALA provided the interview in a YouTube video meant that a larger audience got to see it. It's a wonderful way to advance the association and the profession.

Singing: There’s a whole big world just waiting for you @ your library. So much to do, so much to see @ your library. If you you're gonna go, you gotta take me.

Loriene Roy: This year the media awards ceremony again was webcast and invited a lot of people to visit. Following the media awards announcement there was a live interview in New York for The Today Show.

Ann Curry: Do you agree that these books are unconventional, Loriene?

Loriene Roy: Well, unconventional but still wonderful. These are the best of the best.

LR: Over the last year we've seen media attention to books that we've recognized as our association.

Barbara Walters: There is an uproar about a book called The Higher Power Of Lucky. It is a book for children 9 to 12 years old and it is written by a woman named Susan Patron. And it is a winner of the Newbery Prize.

Katie Couric: Recently the American Library Association recognized Banned Books Week. We talked with Judith Krug of the American Library Association. She said, “Anyone who thinks a book is inappropriate is free to stop reading it,” but added, “Don't take away my right to choose what I want to read.”

Announcer: The Campaign for America's Libraries has had tremendous growth since its inception. And now there are six offices and units of ALA that have partnered to put together toolkits for the @ your library campaign. The @ your library campaign allows members to support libraries with one clear, energized voice. There are marketing promotions, there's public awareness efforts, and there are advocacy efforts that are all rolled together under The American Library Association umbrella that would be out of the reach of individual libraries. The State Library of North Carolina worked with actress Andie MacDowell, a North Carolina resident, to develop READ posters and an @ your library campaign that targeted residents around the state.

Leslie Burger: The Environmental Protection Agency was planning to make a $2 million cut in their budget, which would have essentially reduced the library budget by 80%. We decided we would take this on. We had good placement in a lot of the major newspapers, I wrote an Op-Ed piece which appeared in The New York Times. And I think the result of ALA's efforts, along with others, is that Congress reversed itself and the money for the EPA libraries has been restored.

Loriene Roy: One of the high points of this year has been this experience with some phenomenal mothers in the state of Washington: the women we know as the Spokane Moms—three of them who were tired of the fact that their children could not get access to a library during the school year. And when complaining to their principal, the principal said, “Go to the state legislature.” And they did, along with the signatures of 5,000 of their state residents.

Keith Michael Fiels: The public awareness piece is really important to this because this is what the legislators read in their newspaper, this is what they’re hearing from their constituents.