Step Up to the Plate @ Your Library

Mark passed along that ALA just posted this information, for anyone who is interested!

As the temperature rises and the school year draws to a close, it is time to batter up for summer reading.  Help your community's kids and teens beat the heat this summer with Step up to the Plate @ your library(r).

Developed by the American Library Association and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the program brings together two of America's favorite pastimes - baseball and libraries - to encourage reading.  Children and young adults between 9 and 18 years of age are invited to go to their library, check out a book about baseball and describe how their favorite character inspired them.  One grand prize winner will receive a trip to the Hall of Fame in October 2007.

You can register now for free tools to help libraries promote the program locally.  Tools include program logos in both English and Spanish and a toolkit that includes sample press materials and programming ideas. 

Kids are not the only winners in Step Up to the Plate. The library that brings in the most entries will win a $100 bookstore gift certificate, and three runners up will be awarded a $50 ALA Graphics gift certificate. All four will also receive a copy of Lawrence Hogan's Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball (published by National Geographic Society).   

The Step up to the Plate @ your library program was officially launched during National Library Week in Peoria, Ill., with program spokespeople and Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith. Both appeared on field before a Peoria Chiefs game as the team announced the program and Sandberg, who is the Chiefs' manager, also spoke to students a local junior high. 

First-place prize packages also will be awarded (five in each of four age categories: age 9-11; 12-14; 15-16 and 17-18) and include a commemorative hardbound copy of the Hall of Fame Yearbook; Hall of Fame t-shirt; commemorative set of 20 Hall of Fame baseball cards; DVD copy of the classic baseball movie, "The Sandlot;" miniature souvenir Akadema Pro baseball glove; and a Jackie Robinson History Lives poster from ALA Graphics.

The program concludes September 1, 2007.

Step up to the Plate is part of The Campaign for America's Libraries, ALA's public awareness and advocacy campaign about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a Campaign Founding Partner. Supporters of the Step Up to the Plate program include the American Association of School Librarians (AASL); the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC); the Public Library Association (PLA); the Black Caucus of the American Library Association; and REFORMA, the Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, an affiliate of the ALA.