Category: News - National    

It’s budget time of year for all of the district libraries. Most of you are busy drafting your outlook for 2009, working on plans for the use of state aid, and hoping you can continue to provide the growing quality level of service that patrons are accustomed to. Remember that the district is happy to review your draft budget if you’d like an outside pair of eyes to review your plans.

When making this year’s budget, in this tight economy, look at how you are forecasting your income and expenses.
How would you handle a 20% budget cut like Philadelphia may be facing now?
Where and when would citizens of your community feel the impact of lost dollars?
How evident would the cuts be to your public?
Is there anything you can do to demonstrate the value of your library and the return on dollars invested in order to protect current funding streams?
Are there efficiencies you can implement now to show that library dollars are the best investment?

Read about how Philly is handling dramatic budget cuts: Budget Cuts in Philly and NY

http://www.nea.gov/news/news07/TRNR.html

Take a look at the news story above.  The National Endowment for the Arts just released a study, To Read or Not to Read, that displays some startling statistics about American reading habits.  Check out this article and the complete study for the impact of reading on teens, employers, and our society as a whole.

Contact: Megan McFarlane
Campaign Coordinator
mmcfarlane@ala.org

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2007

Ben Roethlisberger named as Library Card Sign-up Month Spokesperson

Free promotional tools now online

(Chicago) The ALA announced today that Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the 2006 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, will be the spokesperson for this year’s Library Card Sign-up Month, which begins September 1. Roethlisberger is featured on an ALA Graphics READ poster, which is being sent to national media by ALA as a public service announcement.

Promotional tools in Spanish and English are available online to promote The Smartest Card. Get It. Use It. @ your library theme for Library Card Sign-up Month. Tools include “52 Ways to Use Your Library Card,” a sample proclamation, press release, op-ed, letter-to-the-editor, PSA scripts and “Smartest Card” artwork. There are also links to “Smartest Card” promotional items available from ALA Graphics.

Sample tools and examples of how libraries have promoted Library Card Sign-up Month using the Smartest Card are available at www.ala.org/librarycardsignup.

Observed the month of September since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when ALA and libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all and the smartest card a student can own.

The Smartest Card. Get It. Use It. @ your library is part of the Public Libraries Association (PLA) campaign to promote the library card as the most important card in every wallet. For more information on the PLA’s “Smartest Card” initiative, visit www.ala.org/pla.