Deadline-January 31

WASHINGTON, DC-Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Coming Up Taller awards that recognize and reward outstanding after-school, out-of-school, and summer arts and humanities programs for underserved children and youth. The program, in its eleventh year, is sponsored by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

By honoring excellence in after-school, out-of-school, and summer arts and humanities programs, the Coming Up Taller awards promote a creative, engaged, skilled, and confident generation of young people. Eligible museums, libraries, performing arts organizations, universities, arts centers, community service organizations, schools, businesses, and eligible government entities are encouraged to participate. Recipients of a Coming Up Taller award receive $10,000 at a special ceremony in Washington, DC, an individualized plaque, and an expense-paid invitation to attend the annual Coming Up Taller Leadership Enhancement Conference.

Visit http://www.cominguptaller.org/downloads/2008CUTNominationApplication.pdf  for the nomination guidelines and application (PDF, 227KB).

At a previous Coming Up Taller awards ceremony, First Lady Laura Bush remarked, “…young people are discovering the humanities and the arts.They’re developing the life skills and the discipline that leads to success. They’re building the confidence to paint, dance, speak, and sing — and in every one of their communities, to walk taller.”

Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. For more information: www.imls.gov.

The New Jersey State Library is partnering with Barnes & Noble and the New Jersey Library Association to sponsor “Love Your Library” month in February 2008 to once again help fund the Statewide Summer Reading Program at all public libraries in New Jersey.

Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of every sale from every customer who presents a book fair voucher at any Barnes and Noble store in New Jersey during the month of February. The funds raised from this month-long event will benefit the children and young adults who participate in the 2008 Summer Reading Program. The theme of the 2008 Summer Reading Program is “Catch the Reading Bug” for the children and “Metamorphosis” for the teens.  To participate in this program, a customer must use a voucher at the time of purchase. Vouchers will also be available to download from the New Jersey Library Association and the New Jersey State Library websites a little closer to the start of the event. 

In order to encourage as many public libraries to participate in this statewide event, Barnes & Noble has also generously agreed to give libraries the opportunity to win some incentives by participating in this event. These incentives include:  

1.        A $150 Gift Card  Libraries would be invited to do a display in their libraries promoting February as “Love Your Library” month in partnership with Barnes and Noble supporting the Statewide Summer Reading Program sponsored by the New Jersey State Library and New Jersey Library Association. These displays would be judged and the winning library will get a $150 B&N gift card.

2.         A $150 Barnes & Noble Gift Card for Libraries  Each Barnes & Noble store will distribute vouchers to a library in the town where they have a store. The library must put the name of their library on the vouchers.  At the end of the month a voucher will be drawn from all entries collected from all the stores in NJ and the winning library will receive a $150 Barnes and Noble gift card. The more vouchers that are given out from each library, the more chances that library has to win the gift card. Libraries not in a town where a Barnes and Noble store is located can download the vouchers from the NJLA or NJSL website! 

3.       Gift Basket and $25 Gift Card for Customers  Each voucher would also have an entry form on it for an individual to have the opportunity to win a prize. The winning customer would get a gift basket for “family night” that would consist of a game, DVD, popcorn, a book by David Carter called “Love Bugs” and a $25 B&N gift card. 

4.       Free Activity Sheets  Activity sheets will also be available for the kids along with the vouchers.  

Possible Outreach opportunity

Some stores will be looking to have their local library host a program during the month. We encourage you to accept the invitation if you receive a call from a community relations manager. This is a wonderful way to promote the program. Not only will you be able to showcase your library, you’ll also be able to remind your audience to use their voucher when they purchase materials. Of course, it would be great to remind them that every purchase with a voucher benefits all public libraries of
New Jersey.  You won’t be able to hand out vouchers in the stores during this month, but you can remind the people in your audience to ask for a voucher when they make a purchase, if they haven’t brought one with them. 

For more information, contact Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJSL, srawlins@njstatelib.org or 609-278-2640 ext. 116.                                                                                                    

The proposed new rule regarding the certification of librarians is posted at http://www.njstatelib.org/LDB/State_Aid/. This regulation codifies established procedure and will have no impact on currently employed librarians. 

Should you have any comments, please submit them to Victoria Rosch via email (vrosch@njstatelib.org) or letter. The deadline for comments is February 15, 2008. If you prefer to mail your comments, please send them to:  

Victoria Rosch, Deputy Director

Library Development Bureau  

New Jersey State Library

P.O. Box 520

Trenton, NJ 08625-0520   

The State Library has been working with INFOLINK to sponsor a YouTube/Comic Contest. Young adults up to the age of 18 were able to submit a comic or video. Submissions are posted and now the public is invited to cast their vote for their favorite comic and video.Two prizes will be awarded: one for the comic that gets the most votes and one to the video that gets the most votes. To vote, go www.njlibraries.org and click on the YouTube icon. Voting ends December 31.