ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 9, Number 14 February 18, 2000 In this issue: National Library Week Coming Up April 9-15 Note: The following is a February 16 news release from the ALA Public Information Office. For more information contact Linda Wallace, director, or Belia Ortega, PR assistant, at 312-280-5042/ 312-280-1546, or e-mail: pio@ala.org. How can libraries celebrate National Library Week 2000? The American Library Association (ALA) is sponsoring several exciting opportunities to help libraries get involved in this annual event. To kick off National Library Week (April 9-15), libraries are invited to participate in a national Connect for Kids Day @ the Library on Saturday, April 8. Sponsored by ALA in partnership with the Benton Foundation, Connect for Kids Day is designed to showcase resources for children and families in their communities. The event will provide a "one-stop" shopping experience for families to learn more about community programs that can benefit them. Along with special programs, presentations and displays, a special highlight will be the Benton Foundation's Connect for Kids Web site (http://www.connectforkids.org), which provides a weekly electronic newsletter, a monthly e-zine and links to more than 1,500 Web sites and 1,750 organizations working on behalf of children and families. A free Connect for Kids Day poster with tips for organizing an event, is available from the ALA Public Information Office. Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 5044/5041. E-mail: pio@ala.org. An online version is posted on the ALA Web site at http://www.ala.org/kidsday. National Library Week also will kick off LIVE at the Library 2000: Building Cultural Communities, a two-year project sponsored by ALA with major support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. Hundreds of libraries across the country, as well as authors, artists and arts organizations, will be eligible to apply for support to present theme-based cultural programs for family and adult library audiences. The programs will feature "live" appearances by literary, visual and performing artists exploring important issues and ideas facing communities across America. For more information about LIVE at the Library 2000, including grant proposal deadlines, see the ALA Public Programs Web site at http://www.ala.org/publicprograms/live.html or contact the ALA Public Programs Office at 800-545-2433, ext. 5412, or cwatkins@ala.org. National Library Week is an opportunity to thank elected officials for their support of our nation's libraries. Libraries are encouraged to support a national Thank You Day, to be held April 11, to highlight and celebrate library programs and "success stories" made possible through the support of legislators and library funding. The goals of Thank You Day are to: (1) educate elected officials about the importance of libraries; (2) demonstrate how legislators are helping to make library programs and services possible for their constituents; (3) illustrate the use of technology in libraries and how the E-rate program has benefited library users; (4) encourage libraries to apply for more local, state and federal resources. To learn more about Thank You Day and for planning ideas and customizable materials (in text and PDF formats), check out http://www.ala.org/washoff/thankyou.html or contact the ALA Washington Office at 800-941-8478 or alawash@alawash.org. For background information about National Library Week, see http://www.ala.org/pio/nlw.html. For additional tips, resources and ideas for celebrating National Library Week and other year- round library promotional events, see the ALA Web site at http://www.ala.org/celebrating. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff; Editor: Deirdre Herman. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Mary Costabile, Peter Kaplan, Miriam Nisbet and Claudette Tennant. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell and Saundra Shirley.