First Lady to Honor Librarians and Storytellers

Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack will honor six libraries for their outstanding contribution to their communities in ceremonies Saturday, August 13, at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. The libraries will be in honored in ceremonies that begin at 9:30 a.m. at the American Republic Stage as part of the Iowa Stories 2000 Storytelling and Literacy Communities Recognition Day at the Fair.

The public libraries in Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Iowa Falls, Eldon, Lake Park and Zearing will be recognized by the First Lady. All of the libraries participate in the First Lady's Iowa Stories 2000 Foundation community literacy projects.

"These libraries, their hard-working directors and their many dedicated supporters exemplify the best efforts of libraries all over the state to extend their services into their communities and to expand the role of libraries in the lives of the people they serve," Mrs. Vilsack said.

A storytelling contest will also take place at the event. The First Lady created the contest to emphasize the importance of reading and sharing of stories with children early in life as a means of fostering family identity and preparing them to read.

This year's storytellers are Senator Daryl Beall, D-Webster County, Gary Dickey Jr., the Governor's Office legal counsel; Mary Mincer Hansen, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health; Michael Zachs, a middle school teacher in Washington, IA.; Angela Renkoski, assistant professor of journalism at Drake University; Lorenzo Sandoval, a Des Moines playwright and educator; and Mary Campos, an activist in the Latino community.

Storytelling judges are Alexis Sauls, Jayda Droes and Paula Sigure of the Boys and Girls Clubs.

The Waterloo and Cedar Falls libraries, directed by Carol Johnson, are being honored for their work in early childhood education. The libraries developed a pilot project to open a school library in each of the two school districts on Saturday mornings for early childhood projects. They include teaching new parents, grandparents and care givers about the importance of reading.

The Lake Park Library, directed by Suzanne Himba, provided seed funding for a community theater that put on two plays in April. It's expected the plays will become an annual literacy event.

In Iowa Falls, the Robert W. Barlow Memorial Library, directed by Deanne Henry, will conduct a book discussion group for teens held once a month during the lunch hour. Lunch will be catered by various local restaurants and the discussions will be led by community leaders.

The Zearing Public Library, directed by Jean Watts, in cooperation with the Colo-NESCO Middle School and other community members and groups, led projects in purchasing Girl Scout and Brownie project books and offered programs for middle school boys. The programs included sports speakers, and board and card games. Other games were purchased for upcoming winter activities.

In Eldon, the Eldon Public Library, directed by Doris "Pat" Daniels, worked with the Cardinal School staff and others in the community to promote library use and literacy among middle school students. The project included a Movie Night and creation of a Youth Library Advisory Group.

The goals of the First Lady's Iowa Stories 2000 Foundation's are to:

• Encourage reading and sharing of family stories with children early in life.
• Continue to strengthen Iowa communities.
• Focus on public and school libraries as community centers for lifelong learning
• Promote libraries as forums for intergenerational sharing of personal, family and community stories.
• Foster a working relationships between school and public libraries
• Encourage non-traditional partnerships between libraries and other community organizations, the media, businesses and groups.
• Recognize communities that have achieve a high level of literacy through support of their libraries and the development of partnerships.

Mrs. Vilsack said that other goals include recognizing communities that work to meet the literacy needs of underserved groups including middle school students, new Iowans, seniors and the disabled. The Foundation also seeks to promote technology education for parents and children and to encourage citizens to advocate for ample financial support for public and school libraries from cities, counties and the state.