Time to Step Up to the Plate @ your Library

ALA Announces Season Five of the "Step Up to the Plate @ your Library" Program 

Season five of Step Up to the Plate @ your library is now open for librarian registration at: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/publicawareness/campaign%40yourlibrary/sponsorship/stepup/stepup.cfm). The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Step Up to the Plate program teams up two American classics – libraries and baseball – to promote information literacy and the library as an essential information resource.

Librarians can now start the spring training season by visiting the program’s Web site to register for free promotional tools to help promote the program locally. Step Up to the Plate launches to the public on Monday, April 5, to coincide with the start of the 2010 baseball season.

Tools include program logos in both English and Spanish, a downloadable poster and bookmarks and a toolkit that includes sample press materials and programming ideas. The first 100 libraries to register will receive a Jackie Robinson “History Lives” poster from ALA Graphics.

Step Up to the Plate @ your library encourages people of all ages to use the print and electronic resources available at their library to answer a series of trivia questions designed for their age group (10 and under, 11-13, 14-17 and 18 and over). One grand-prize winner will receive a trip for two in October to the Hall of Fame’s World Series Gala event in Cooperstown, N.Y., including a behind-the-scenes tour of the library and archives. The program will run through Sept. 4, 2010.

This year, Step Up to the Plate @ your library celebrates the history of baseball and the preservation of our cultural heritage, as a tie in to ALA’s first Preservation Week. For more information on Preservation Week, visit www.ala.org/preservationweek.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a partner in the Campaign for America’s Libraries (www.ala.org/@yourlibrary), ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible in part by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations.

Other partners are Carnegie Corporation of New York, Dollar General, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Univision Radio, Verizon and Woman's Day magazine.