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Weekly Poll

Be sure to check out our weekly poll below, or on our home page.

You can also view results from previous weekly polls.

DEAF CULTURE AT THE SUPER BOWL

At the coming Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3, 2008, PepsiCo will be running a 60-second commercial entirely in American Sign Language (ASL) and with no voice but there will be open captions for non-signing viewers. The advertisement is designed to bring greater awareness of deaf culture to a wide audience.

Bobbie Beth Scoggins, President of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), applauded the PepsiCO on behalf of the American deaf community, for its strong commitment to diversity and empowerment through the creation of this advertisement in ASL. She said she was glad to see "this part of deaf culture awareness shared in a most clever way."

The NAD was asked by PepsiCo to provide advice, feedback, and comments on this advertisement. According to the NAD, this all started in the summer of 2006 when a group of PepsiCo employees, each with their own personal connection to the American deaf community, set off on their own to create a commercial with a deaf focus and broad appeal. None of the employees are performers or marketing specialists - they came up with the concept, wrote the script, and then acted it out, sharing a demo tape with their colleagues. The ad eventually gained support from senior management, which decided that the commercial needed a big
stage. Naturally, they chose the biggest - Super Bowl Sunday. The title of the ad is “Bob's House” and it is based on a popular joke within the deaf community.

GSLIS Book Arts Workshops

The following book arts workshop will be led by Bea Nettles and presented by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. These workshops are open to the community.

Italian Pamphlet: Mitered hard cover, soft-spined booklet
Saturday, February 16, 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Cost: $109 includes fee for materials

Box with Bone Clasp
Saturday, April 12, 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Cost: $109 includes fee for materials

For additional information and to register, go to http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/workshops08.html.

Public Library Construction Meeting Postponed

The Sub-Committee for Public Library Construction meeting scheduled for tomorrow January, 30, 2008, due to inclement weather and the possibility of hazardous driving conditions in the northern part of the state.

The meeting has been re-scheduled for Thursday, February 14, 2008. The committee will meet from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m, with lunch from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m., followed by the grant reviews starting at 12:30 p.m.

Picturing America Grant

Applications are now being accepted for Picturing America (SM), a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association. Applications may be submitted online at http://picturingamerica.ala.org through April 15, 2008.

In order to enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture, Picturing America brings some of the nation’s greatest works of art into school classrooms and public libraries. Successful applicants will receive a set of forty high-quality reproductions of American masterpieces, a teachers resource book and additional educational resources available at http://PicturingAmerica.neh.gov.

Public, private, parochial, and charter schools and home school consortia (K-12), as well as public library systems and school districts, are invited to apply. Awards will be announced in May 2008 and distributed in September 2008 for display during the 2008-2009 school year and beyond.

For more information about Picturing America, including a list of the artwork featured, grant guidelines, and the online application, visit http://picturingamerica.ala.org.

With questions, contact the ALA Public Programs Office.

Sincerely,
ALA Public Programs Office
www.ala.org/publicprograms
publicprograms@ala.org
800/545-2433, extension 5045

ALA/WHCLIST NLLD AWARD

The ALA Washington Office in conjunction with the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce (WHCLIST) is pleased to announce that a monetary award has been created to help pay for a participant to attend National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) held annually in Washington DC. WHCLIST was an effective force in library advocacy nationally, statewide, and locally, following the White House Conferences of 1979 and 1991.

Criteria:

· The recipient should be a library supporter (trustee, Friend, general supporter), not a professional librarian.
· Priority will be given to those who are first-time attendees to National Library Legislative Day.
· Recipient should include a letter of reference from a library director, school librarian, trustee board Chair, Friends Group Chair, or other library person.
· Recipient must be willing to continue to advocate for library services.
· The Washington Office will contact the recipient's Senators and Member of Congress to announce the award.
· Two WHCLIST leaders and one member of the Washington Office staff will choose the recipient each year.

ALA and WHCLIST are committed to ensuring that the American people get the best library services possible. These funds will be used to further those efforts.

If you or someone you know might be interested, please send a letter explaining why you should be chosen, your letter of reference, and a completed NLLD registration form to:

Rosalind Reynolds
Government Relations Specialist
1615 New Hampshire Ave NW
First Floor
Washington, DC 20009
rreynolds@alawash.org
202-628-8419

NLLD registration form can be found at: http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/nlld/registrationa/registration.cfm

For more information on NLLD please visit the ALA-WO website www.ala.org/nlld

LIS Study Opportunity

LIS Access Midwest Program (LAMP) is a regional alliance involving ten schools and academic libraries.  LAMP raises awareness of the field and attracts promising students from historically and statistically underrepresented populations into studies in library and information science (LIS). The program provides opportunities including an annual summer institute, summer internships, peer and professional mentorship and financial support.

Students in their junior/senior year of study at a university are eligible to apply. Applications for 2008/2009 are available online at http://www.lisaccess.org/scholars.html.  The deadline is February 29, 2008.

Institute for School & Public Librarians

ISL is pleased to announce the 14th annual Institute for School and Public Librarians (ISPL) is scheduled for Sunday, June 8 - Friday, June 13, 2008. This week of library related educational programs and activities will be held on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and is sponsored by the Illinois State Library, in cooperation with Bradley University.

The announcement and application are located at: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/whats_new/2008institute.html.

This Institute is an educational, information rich, and very rewarding week. Programs focus on basic skills and knowledge needed by school and public librarians to serve patrons and students. Program topics include reference, collection development, dealing with different personality types, technology issues and trends, grant writing, developing effective patron programming and more. ISPL offers opportunities to gather knowledge and develop job-related skills that will enhance the attendees' abilities to provide better library services for their patrons/students.

Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant

The U.S. Department of Education’s Improving Literacy Through School Libraries discretionary/competitive grant offering. Grant information is accessible at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/index.html.
The application deadline is March 7, 2008.

ELIGIBILITY
Local education agencies in which at least 20 percent of students served are from families with incomes below the poverty line may apply. The poverty rate table for Illinois school districts is accessible using the Eligibility link on the grant page and is included here for informational purposes: http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/eligible/illinois.xls.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This program helps local education agencies improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to up-to-date school library materials; well-equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers; and professionally certified school library media specialists.

TYPES OF PROJECTS
Districts may use funds for the following activities:
• Purchase up-to-date school library media resources, including books;
• Acquire and use advanced technology that is integrated into the curricula to develop and enhance the information literacy, information retrieval, and critical-thinking skills of students;
• Facilitate Internet links and other resource-sharing networks;
• Provide professional development for school library media specialists and provide activities that foster increased collaboration among library specialists, teachers, and administrators; and
• Provide students with access to school libraries during non-school hours, weekends, and summer vacations.

Nettie Davis Elementary seeking card catalog

Nettie Davis Elementary Library in Watseka, a K-1 library with approximately 3,000 items, was destroyed by the recent flood in that community. The library is seeking a donation of a card catalog. If you have an unused card catalog, please email Julie Dunn, dunnj@watseka-u9.k12.il.us.