Communities thrive @ your library - Celebrate National Library Week
Join with other library lovers April 11-17, in celebration of National Library Week.
At a time when library usage is at an all time high, libraries are really helping their communities thrive in these though economic times. Many libraries nationwide design and offer programs tailored to meet local community economic needs, providing residents with guidance (including sessions with career advisers), training and workshops in resume writing and interviewing, job-search resources, and connections with outside agencies that offer training and job placement. 
This year National Library Week will kick-off with a live Internet event, “An Evening with Neil Gamain,” from 6 to 8 p.m. EDT, April 12. As Honorary Chair of National Library Week, Gaiman, the 2009 Newbery Medal winner for “The Graveyard Book,” will speak to his lifelong love of libraries and the role they play in a democratic society by supporting intellectual freedom and privacy. Gaiman will virtually join a live audience at Jessamine County (Ky.) Public Library, fans and library lovers from the University of Minnesota using high definition videoconferencing technology supported by Internet2 to enable an interactive discussion with the author. For more information on the event visit http://gaimanatjcpl.org.
Additional events through the week will include:
- Tuesday, April 13 - Celebrate ALA-APA's National Library Workers Day
- Wednesday, April 14 - Celebrate the first annual National Bookmobile Day
- Wednesday, April 14- ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom will release the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2009” list.
- Thursday, April 15 - Celebrate YALSA's Support Teen Literature Day
April also marks the 25th anniversary of School Library Month. School Library Month also uses the Communities thrive theme, and with research shows that the highest achieving students attend schools with well-staffed and well-funded school libraries, it’s understandable as to why.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.
