EBD



EBD #12.18

2007-2008

TO: ALA Executive Board

RE: Fourth quarter 2007 Media Relations Activities Report

ACTION REQUESTED/INFORMATION/REPORT:

Information Item – No Action Required

ACTION REQUESTED BY:

Cathleen Bourdon, Associate Executive Director, Communications and Member Relations

CONTACT PERSONS:

Mark Gould, Director, Public Information Office, 312-280-5042, mgould@

Macey Morales, Media Relations Manager, 312-280-4393, mmorales@;

DRAFT OF MOTION:

NA

DATE: December 6, 2007

BACKGROUND:

Media relation’s activities for the past quarter (October - mid December) have focused in several main areas:

• Banned Books Week/Book Challenges

• Teen Read Week

• American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National Conference

• Library Card Sign-up Month

• Harry Potter / Dumbledore

Since our last report to the Executive Board, the American Library Association’s (ALA) clipping service (based on the top 150 newspapers by circulation) and online news scans returned more than 578 articles including mentions of the ALA, representing a circulation of more than 41,968,535 million, or more than 104,921,337.5 million impressions (impressions are calculated by the total sum of circulation multiplied by 2.5). Online readership included 412,517,733 visitors per month (VPM). Please note that VPM is defined as the numbers of visitors the site receives, and may not reflect how many may have viewed ALA materials. The overall total of ALA media coverage circulation is more than 325 million, resulting in an impression rate of more than 813 million.

According to the Newspaper Association of America, there are more than 1,400 daily newspapers and 6,700 weekly newspapers in the United States, so the following list of placements should be viewed as a snapshot of coverage achieved by the ALA.

Summary

The Public Information Office (PIO) media relation’s activities focused on Banned Books Week/Book Challenges, Teen Read Week, and campaign messaging.

This year marked the 26th anniversary of Banned Books Week (September 29 – October 6), and ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received substantial local and national coverage. Hillel Italie of the AP wrote an article on Banned Books Week (BBW) entitled, “Book on Male Penguins Tops 'Challenge' List.” The article was picked up by more than 90 media organizations and generated television coverage in several markets. OIF also participated in a series of newspaper and talk radio interviews with national media outlets. Highlights included NPR interviews in Baltimore and Cincinnati, and interviews with the Sacramento Bee and The Book Standard.

PIO worked closely with ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, Tribune McCormick Freedom Museum and the Newberry Library to secure media coverage for a Chicago BBW kick off event Local coverage included calendar mentions in MetroMix Chicago, TimeOut Chicago and WMAQ NBC 5. Other local opportunities included in studio interviews with WTTW ’s (PBS affiliate) Chicago Tonight and CAN TV; interviews with NBC 5 and Fox 32; and a radio interview with WBBM radio.

The BBW Web press kit served as the first attempt by PIO to add an electronic video clip to a Web press kit. For the first time-ever reporters, members and staff were able to view an entire television program devoted to BBW and the BBW Read Out! event.

Teen Read Week (TRW) also had many successes. This year marked the 10th Anniversary of TRW, October 14 – 20, 2007, and schools and libraries across the country hosted a variety of special programs and events to encourage teens to read for “the fun of it.”

The PIO worked closely with staff and members of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) to secure media coverage that promoted key messaging regarding the importance of teen literacy, and the important role libraries and YA librarians play in encouraging teens to read.

Teen Read Week 2007, “LOL @your library,” exceeded last year’s coverage with multiple Web, print, radio and television placements resulting in a circulation rate of more than 112 million, and an impression rate (circulation rate x 2.5 to reflect other readers, listeners and viewers) of more than 281 million people.

YALSA President Paula Brehm-Heeger, participated in 20 radio interviews including Radio Disney, NPR’s The Book Guys, and a variety of other talk radio stations across the country. More than 248 radio stations aired Brehm-Heeger TRW interviews reaching 2.4 million listeners.

More than 800 blog postings that mentioned TRW were identified, and Brehm-Heeger received a considerable amount of Web coverage, after participating in a series of TRW interviews with reporters that produce content for , Fact , and .

YALSA members were extremely active reaching out to local media to promote TRW. Two YA librarians from New Jersey were able to push their way to the front of the crowd that surrounded ABC Network’s Good Morning America weatherman Sam Champion. With a homemade sign in hand, the two mentioned YALSA, TRW and encouraged teens to visit the library. The segment reached 7.6 million viewers, and has a publicity value of $34,000. Also, PIO’s media tracking service found 27 examples of TV news coverage that mentioned TRW.

Other noteworthy member interviews included an in-studio opportunity with Chicago’s CAN-TV. Simone Elkeles, author of "How to Ruin a Summer Vacation," nominated for the Teens' Top Ten (TTT), and Chicago Public Library Youth Services Librarian Portia Latalladi talked about TTT, TRW, and provided tips on how to encourage teens to read. The segment ran on multiple public access channels in the Chicagoland area, and was posted to YouTube, the YALSA Wiki and the Teen Read Week Web press kit.

This was the first year that Spanish language media placement was achieved for TRW. Maria Gentle participated in a 30-minute interview with the Univision Radio Network. The interview was part of the Network’s Morning Show. Univision operates 70 stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco/San Jose, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, McAllen/Brownsville/Harlingen, San Diego, El Paso, Phoenix, Fresno, Albuquerque and Las Vegas. Univision Radio also owns and operates five radio stations in Puerto Rico.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), received substantial coverage of its National Conference, October 25 – 28, in Reno, Nev. More than 15 press members attended the event including staff from School Library Journal, Library Media Connection, Library Journal, eSchool News and District Administration.

PIO prepared a joint op ed that ran in the Reno Gazette Journal. The op ed entitled “NCLB sets bar too low for our school libraries,” ran October 25, and discussed the importance of having highly qualified school library media specialists in every school library, and the need for the Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries Act (SKILLS Act). The paper also ran an article titled “Bill to enhance school librarian's role.” The article focused on how NCLB has impacted local funding for school libraries. AASL leadership also participated in a radio interview with KKOH , and television interview with Nevada NewsMakers (statewide syndication) and an in-studio with KRNV’s morning show “News Today.”

ALA spokespeople also participated in interviews regarding Library Card Sign-up Month, the new Harry Potter book and the announcement that one of its main characters is homosexual. Quotes from ALA leaders were also included in stories about the growing use of technology in libraries.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK / Censorship / Book challenges

Clips: 250 reaching more than 132,954,598 online visitors and 23,923,298 million print readers. Television Mentions: 62 with 1,194,205 audience viewership and a publicity value of $54.061.38. Radio Interviews: 10+ (PIO coordinated 10 BBW radio interviews, but ALA’s OIF was contacted directly by radio producers on several occasions) and 66 PSA s/Mentions.

Television Highlights:

• CAN TV, Chicago

• C-SPAN Weekend

• TimeOut Chicago

• WBZ 4 News, Boston “Katie Couric’s Notebook”

• WLS, Chicago

• WMAQ, Chicago

• WTTW “Chicago Tonight”

Radio Highlights:

• WBBM

• WLUW-FM

• WPFW-FM, Washington D.C.

• WVXU, Cincinnati(NPR Affiliate Cincinnati)

• WYPR, Baltimore

Positive (119):

• , “Banned Books Week - Celebrate your freedom to read!”

• , “Banned Books Week: A good reason to love your librarian”

• Albany Times Union Online, “A few words in defense of books”

• Arizona Daily Star, “Vigilance needed as calls to ban books continue”

• Arizona Republic, “Library mulls removing work”

• Arizona Republic Online, “Bannede Books Treasure Hunt' continues in surprise”

• Arizona Republic Online, “Southwest Valley libraries join in Banned Books Week”

• Asheville Citizen Times Online, “WCU library hosts banned books film festival”

• Associated Content Online, “Banned Books Week is September 29 to October 6”

• Battle Creek Enquirer Online, “Banned Books Week celebrates freedoms”

• Battle Creek Enquirer Online, “We have right to intellectual freedom”

• Battle Creek Enquirer Online, “Don't take freedom of choice for granted”

• Beaufort Gazette Online, “Schools celebrate banned books”

• Beaver Dam Daily Citizen Online, “Library celebrates banned books”

• Book Links, “Understanding the First Amendment”

• Book Links, “A Step Back and a Step Forward”

• Book Links, “Need to Know”

• Book Standard Online, “Starting Tomorrow: Read More Banned Books”

• Carmel Magazine, “Blacklisted Books Out of the Fire”

• Carroll County Comet Online, “National Banned Books Week to be celebrated by DPL”

• Chicago Daily Southtown Online, “Candy fit for framing”

• Chicago Suburban News Online, “Library patrons reflect on book banning”

• Chicago Sun Times, “Treasure Literary Freedom”

• Chicago Sun Times Online, “Treasure Literary Freedom”

• Chicago Tribune ................
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In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

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