ALSC offers several professional awards including grants and fellowships to recognize our members, support their outstanding programming, and aid in their continuing education. Congratulations to the following ALSC members!
Jane Botham is the 2009 recipient of the ALSC Distinguished Service Award. As stated in the press release, Botham’s contribution to the library profession is summed up well in the words of ALSC member Mimi Kayden, “She knows so much, imparts it so well and is so entertaining when she does it.”
The Fair Oaks branch of the Redwood City (CA) Public Library, partnered with the Garfield Elementary Charter School, has been awarded the 2009 Maureen Hayes Award. Award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan, whose books portray and honor the Latino cultural experience, will visit the Garfield school which, as shared in the press release, is 94 percent Latino.
The 2009 ALSC Penguin Young Readers Group Award allows four children’s librarians to each receive a $600 grant to attend their first ALA Annual Conference. The 2009 winners are:
- Cheryl Lee from the Palo Alto (CA) City Library
- Katherine T. McCabe from the Briarcliff Middle School in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
- Heather Karrick Perkinson from the Falmouth (ME) public schools
- Sarah Polace from the Cuyahoga (OH) County Public Library, Parma-South Branch
The 2009 ALSC/BWI Summer Reading Grant is awarded to the Madison (OH) Public Library. The $3000 grant is to promote the development of outstanding summer reading programs for children. As shared in the press release, Madison Public Library’s 2009 summer reading program theme, “Be Creative @ Your Library,” will offer music and motion activities for preschoolers and art experiences for school age children.
Linda Martin, library media specialist from Gainesville, GA, is the 2009 recipient of the ALSC Bechtel Fellowship. The fellowship provides a stipend of $4000 to an ALSC Member to spend a month or more reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature at the University of Florida, Gainesville. According to the press release, Martin’s ultimate goal in her study, “Storytelling in the Content Areas,” is to use story as framework for learning in all subject areas, finding stories from the past to adapt to the modern classroom.
For more information about ALSC Professional Awards, visit the ALSC website–>Awards & Grants–>Professional Awards.