California, Michigan, and Illinois Libraries Receive ALSC Bookapalooza Collections

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded the 2020 Bookapalooza Program Collections to three libraries: Civic Center Secondary School of San Francisco, California; Big Rapids Community Library of Big Rapids, Michigan; and the Wood Dale Public Library District of Wood Dale, Illinois.

The award includes a large collection of books and audiobooks received by the ALSC office from publishers for selection committees to evaluate for awards and notables consideration. To make room for the next year’s publications, Bookapalooza was created to infuse three collections with new materials for children from birth through age 14.

Civic Center Secondary School Library serves some of San Francisco’s grade 7-12 students who are assigned to the school due to truancy, expulsion, behavioral intervention, or other factors. The school and library strive to provide an educational and emotional support system for these at-risk students, enabling a space to interrupt the cycles of institutional racism that affect their education. Using the Bookapalooza collection, school librarian Kay Hones plans to work with students to develop their own personal libraries and create book fairs where they can develop and share their literary interests. The school will then partner with a number of local programs to distribute books for schools with similar student bodies, as well as schools that provide childcare for the children of students.

Big Rapids is a rural town near Ferris State University with a median family income of approximately $28k. The Big Rapids Community Library plans to use the Bookapalooza materials to develop their small and worn children’s collection. The library demonstrates a commitment to its community in the library through easy access to library cards and the state’s ILL, as well as the removal of youth fines on cards. This commitment extends throughout the community by assisting to establish little libraries and book baskets throughout Big Rapids.

Located in the suburbs of Chicago, the Wood Dale Public Library serves as an important part of the local community with over one thousand youth services programs typically occurring over the course of a year. With upcoming renovations to the library, the available children’s collection will be temporarily reduced by 97% to accommodate the reduced space. The Bookapalooza materials will help ensure that the library can continue to provide some of the most recent and popular titles to their community. While some of the collection will be used for this purpose, much of it will also be used for gifting through Wood Dale Public Library’s internal exchange cart, as well as their extensive Book Mobile program which brings free books and resources to the greater community.

“The committee was deeply moved by amount of need in many of the applications we received, and impressed by the many different ways applicants proposed to use and share the Bookapalooza materials in their communities,” said Ariana Hussain, Grant Administration Committee chair. “Our three recipients rose to the top because of the strength of their applications and the innovation, creativity, and extent of how they will use the materials to help them improve access and service to young readers.”

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is driven by more than 4,000 members dedicated to the support and enrichment of library service to children. Our members include youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty. ALSC supports its members in engaging communities to build healthy, successful, futures for all children. To learn more about ALSC and how to join, please visit: www.ala.org/alsc.