Thursday, July 1, 2010

Step Up to the Plate @ Your Library

Start throwing some heat this July with programming ideas and promotions for Step Up to the Plate @ Your Library. July is a big month for baseball with the Home Run Derby (July 12), All-Star Game (July 13) and Induction Day (July 25). Step Up to the Plate makes it easy for libraries to help plan around these events.

Host a “Step Up to the Plate Home Run Derby,” inviting library users of all ages to enter this year’s contest. The first player in each age group to hit a home run (four correct answers) receives a small prize. Ask baseball fans and library lovers to team up for an all ages Library All-Stars Game. Fans will work in two teams of “All Stars” to find the answers to a series of baseball questions. During the “inning” teams will be pitched a series of questions, with each correct answer counting as a hit and each wrong answer registering as an out. Questions can be pulled directly from this year’s Step Up to the Plate playbooks. After the game, encourage players to use their newfound knowledge to participate in the Step Up to the Plate program.

Step Up to the Plate @ your library teams up two American classics - baseball and libraries - to promote the importance of information literacy skills and increase awareness of the library as an essential information resource. Step Up to the Plate centers on a baseball trivia contest. People of all ages are encouraged to visit their library and answer a series of trivia questions inspired by our national pastime. The questions, developed by the library staff at the Hall of Fame, are based on exhibits at the museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

One grand-prize winner will receive a trip to the Hall of Fame in October 2010. Librarians are encouraged to register for free tools to help promote the program locally on the program website http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/publicawareness/campaign%40yourlibrary/sponsorship/stepup/stepup.cfm. Tools include program logos in both English and Spanish and a toolkit that includes sample press materials and programming ideas. Thousands of school and public librarians register for the program each year.

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