ProgrammingLibrarian.org Gets a New Look

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office has debuted an updated look and enhanced features for its website, ProgrammingLibrarian.org. Designed for librarians who plan and present cultural programs and events, ProgrammingLibrarian.org is both a resource center and a community of librarians committed to bringing increased access to literature, music, contemporary issues, art, history, poetry, scholars, writers and musicians to their communities.

Programming tools recently added to ProgrammingLibrarian.org include:
· The Programming Librarian forum: Post and respond to questions about planning, promoting and executing all manner of library programs in the Programming Librarian forum.

· The PR Generator: Programming Librarian provides templates for fliers, bookmarks and postcards that can be easily customized with your own text, images and colors. After the design phase is complete, a print-ready PDF document is generated that can be taken to a local copy shop or printed in the library. Please note that you must be registered with Programming Librarian to use this feature.

Site updates, including new programming resources, job listings and grant opportunities, are available by subscribing to the monthly e-newsletter. To sign up, visit http://www.programminglibrarian.org/newsletter_signup.

ProgrammingLibrarian.org can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Visit ProgrammingLibrarian.org to test drive these new features. Development of the site is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Service to the ALA Public Programs Office, which fosters cultural programming as an essential part of library service in public, academic, school and special libraries. In keeping with that mission, ProgrammingLibrarian.org  offers librarians timely and valuable information to support libraries in the creation of high-quality cultural programs for their communities.

Successful library programming initiatives from the ALA Public Programs Office have included “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion series, traveling exhibitions, film discussion programs, the Great Stories CLUB, Live! @ your library and more. In 2002, the ALA Public Programs Office established the Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment to support all types of libraries as they bring communities together through cultural programming (www.ala.org/ccf). For more information about the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.
(American Libaries Direct, October 13, 2010)