Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 24, 2003
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Nebraska Center for the Book Announces 2003 Jane
GeskeAward
Grand Island Public Library and Foundation Honored
The 2003 Jane
Geske Award will be presented to the
Grand Island Public Library and the Grand Island Public Library
Foundation, Inc. at the annual meeting of the
Nebraska Center for the Book on November 2 in
Lincoln. The library and foundation were honored for their rich tradition of
service (120 years in 2004), their outreach throughout Hall
County, and the variety of
reading and literacy services provided.
Through a
combination of significantly increased local tax support, the Library's
Foundation funding, state and federal grants administered by the Nebraska
Library Commission, and a very dedicated staff, Grand Island transformed an
underfunded, understaffed and underutilized entity into one with greatly
improved reading and literacy-based library services, resulting in:
- 62% increase in checkouts
- 72% increase in patrons visiting the library
- 131% increase in summer reading
program participants
- 135% increase in bookmobile stops
Staff, board,
and Foundation work together to provide a variety of reading and literacy-based
services:
- Grand Island Public Library
Foundation, Inc. is the original and ongoing sponsor of the Abbott Sisters
Project, and the Library houses the Abbott Sisters Research Center, encouraging
reading and research about Edith and Grace Abbott, Grand Island social service
pioneers.
- Library staff participated in
organizing the 2002 Nebraska Book Festival held in Grand Island and holds
periodic book discussion groups.
- The library organized the
community's Literacy Coalition and the Family Focus Coalition, each made up of
ten local agencies.
- Through the library's BabyTALK
program, volunteers visit parents and newborns at St. Francis Medical Center,
spreading the love of reading and information about the importance of reading in
early childhood development.
- "Take Twenty" is a library
program, provided in collaboration with the School District of Grand Island, to
encourage parents to read to their children at least twenty minutes a day.
- The library is the only Nebraska
library participating in the national Libraries for the Future Family Place
program. Components include Parent/Child workshops that focus on library
resources for parents, interactive developmental toys for children, and
community development professionals working and playing with
parents and children.
- Teen services are a recent focus,
with a 47% increase in use of teen materials, compared to last year. Components
include Teen Summer Reading Program, Young Adult Advisory Board, and regular
programming for teens.
- Programs and services are provided
inside the library and through an expanded outreach program in Grand Island and
throughout Hall County via bookmobile and other strategies, including partnering
with the school district to offer Summer Reading Programs at selected local
schools.
- New programs (such as Spanish
Story Time) are becoming important basic library services. Library participation
in the community's Multicultural Collation is essential, directing resources to
serve all citizens' reading and literacy-based needs in a highly diverse
community.
- Work is underway to identify
support for a major expansion of the current facility in 2006, and a future
branch location in northwest Grand Island.
The award,
established by the Nebraska Center for the Book, is presented annually to an
organization, business, library, school, association, or other group that has
made an exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, or
Nebraska literature.
The Jane Geske
Award commemorates Geske's passion for books, and was established in recognition
of her contributions to the well-being of the libraries of Nebraska. Jane Geske
was a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book and a long-time leader
in many Nebraska library and literary activities.
Past winners of
the Jane Geske Award are Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at
Lincoln City Libraries (1992), Nebraska Humanities Council (1993), Cummington
Press and Harry Duncan (1994), Nebraska Press (1995), Independent Booksellers of
Nebraska (1996), Prairie Schooner and Hilda Raz (1997), Friends of
the Libraries of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1998), John G. Neihardt
Foundation and Neihardt Center (1999), Myer and Dorothy Kripke Jewish Federation
Library (2000), Friends of the Omaha Public Library (2001), and Mari Sandoz High
Plains Heritage Center at Chadron State College (2002).
Nebraska book
lovers (readers, writers, booksellers, librarians,
publishers, printers, educators, and scholars) are invited to the
Nebraska Center for the Book
Annual Meeting and presentation featuring Dr. David Wishart, editor of the
Encyclopedia of the Great Plains and Chair of the Department of Anthropology
and Geography at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln . The Annual
Meeting of the Nebraska Center for the Book will be held in the main gallery of
the Great Plains Art Collection, 1155 Q Street, Lincoln, Nebraska on Sunday,
November 2, 2:00-4:00 p.m. and is open to the public.
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The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska
Library Commission and brings together the state's readers, writers,
booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build
the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public
interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the
Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library
agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and
information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is
statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information
services, bringing together people and information. The most up-to-date news
releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the
Library Commission home page.