ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 64/C& R LNews National Library W eek: "Libraries Change Lives" By Linda K. W allace Join the celebration o f libraries’ im pact on people’s lives T he them e for National Library W eek (NLW) 1993, an d 1994, is “Libraries Change Lives.” This is the first time th e NLW them e has been selected for tw o consecutive years. The dates are April 18-24, 1993, an d April 17-23, 1994. N ancy D avenport, 1991-92 chair o f the Na­ tional Library W eek Committee, n o ted that the them e com plem ents the “B ooks C hange Lives” th e m e a d o p te d by the Library of Con­ gress for 1993 and 1994 a n d a llo w s m ore planning time. It also ties in w ith 1992-93 ALA presi­ d en t Marilyn Miller’s them e “Em pow ering P e o p le th ro u g h Li­ b raries” a n d focuses attention on the con­ tributions o f libraries a t a tim e w h e n m any are having to fig h t b u d g e t cu ts, D avenport noted. N ational Library W eek posters, bookm arks, pins, an d other prom otional materials can be ord ered from the fall ALA Graphics Catalog as can “B ooks Change Lives” posters and p ro m o ­ tional items. The 1993-94 Library C am paign Book, also available from ALA Graphics, will include li­ brary program and prom otion ideas an d clip art for p ro m o tin g b o th the “B ooks C hange Lives” and “Libraries Change Lives” them es. Award-winning illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon portray the transforming power o f books in a commemorative poster for the Library o f Congress’ Books Change Lives theme, (availablefro m ALA) A national search for those w h o se lives have b e e n changed by libraries a n d /o r librarians will b e sp o n so red by ALA. T hose w ishing to “tes­ tify” will b e invited to sen d a postcard stating “H ow th e library changed my life.” T he testim ony will b e u sed to dem onstrate to legislators at the local, state, an d national levels the value that p eo p le place o n libraries. All testim ony m ust be verifiable an d include full nam e, age, an d address. T hose w h o w o u ld like to b e considered for a national advertising cam paign m ay subm it statem ents o f u p to 75 w ords. T hese may be w ritte n in p ro se , p o e t r y , r a p , o r o th e r forms. P h o ­ tos, draw ings, and a u d io - o r v id e o ­ tapes m ay also be subm itted. All ages are invited to share their thoughts. L ib ra rie s m ay c o lle c t te s tim o n y and honor their “Li­ b ra ry Lives” stars during NLW activi­ tie s s u c h as th e N ight o f a T h o u ­ s a n d S ta r s /G re a t American Read A loud scheduled for W ednes­ day, April 21. O riginal entries m ust b e for­ w ard ed to ALA headquarters by May 1. T h r e e p e o p le w h o s e liv e s h a v e b e e n changed by libraries will b e selected for ho n ­ oring at th e O pening G eneral Session o f the 1993 ALA A nnual C onference in New Orleans. For m ore inform ation contact: ALA Public Inform ation Office, 50 E. H uron St., Chicago, IL 60611; (800) 545-2433, ext. 5044 o r 5041. Linda K. Wallace is director o f the ALA Public Information Office February 1 9 9 3 / 6 5 Ideas for celebrating NLW • Invite th e college p re sid e n t to issue a “N ational Library W e e k ” p ro c la m a tio n a c ­ kn o w led g in g th e library’s contributions. • Recruit a journalism class to interview students, faculty, adm inistrators, a n d visiting VIPs o n “H ow B ooks an d th e Library Changed My Life.” H ave p h o to g ra p h y stu d e n ts take shots to acco m p an y th e interview s. Publish all this in a sp ecial N ational Library W eek new sletter o r in th e library’s (m aybe ev en the college’s) an n u al report. • D o a “C hanging Lives . . . C hanging Libraries” exhibit. Pick a significant y ear in th e life o f th e school an d contrast library a n d inform ation reso u rces th e n a n d n o w using posters a n d o th e r m em orabilia. Include p h o ­ tos an d lists su ch as “B estsellers th e n — an d n o w ,” “T he card catalog then— an d no w ,” “The librarian th e n — a n d n o w ,” a n d “T h e library collection th e n — an d n o w .” Suggest this as a feature story to cam pus an d com m unity n ew s­ papers. • Start a ru n n in g n o te b o o k n e a r th e cir­ culation d e sk asking th o se in line to jot d o w n th eir th o u g h ts o n h o w th e library ch an g ed their lives. Select a “q u o te o f the w e e k ” for posting. • H o ld a N atio n al Library W eek daily draw ing. H ave entrants w rite their thoughts o n “H o w B ooks an d th e Library C han g ed My Life” o n a postcard. D raw daily w in n ers an d b e g en ero u s in aw arding T-shirts, buttons, and gift certificates as prizes. Send copies o f e n ­ tries to the ALA Public Inform ation Office as p art o f th e natio n al “Libraries Lives” search. • Send a letter to distinguished faculty and alumni inviting them to share their thoughts. Cre­ ate a special bulletin board display. Submit an article to the alumni magazine. • H ave stu d en t copyw riters w rite “com ­ m ercials” a b o u t th e life-changing im pact o f the college library— o r b o o k s an d libraries in general. Ask a local advertising o r public re­ lations a sso ciatio n to select “w in n e rs ” a n d recruit a local TV statio n o r th e B roadcast C o m m u n ic a tio n s D e p a rtm e n t to p r o d u c e them . Subm it th em as public service advertis­ ing fo r cam p u s a n d com m unity stations. Sug­ g est a story a b o u t th e co o p erativ e v en tu re for the station— o r local n ew sp ap er. ■ Declining Aquisition Budgets: Allocation, Collection Development, and Communication of Impact Oklahoma City, Oklahoma February 2 5 -2 6 , 1 9 9 3 Speakers: Ross Atkinson - Cornell University Kathleen Born - EBSCO Gay Dannelly - Ohio State University Nancy Eaton - Iowa State University Anthony Ferguson - Columbia University Charles Hamaker - Louisiana State University Leonard Schrift - Ballen Booksellers Judy W ebster - University o f Tennessee-Knoxville Contact for Information: Donald C. Hudson, University o f Oklahoma Libraries, Norman, OK 73019-0528 Phone: 405-325-2611