NEWS
For Immediate Release                                                    Contact: Deborah Davis
August 2001                                                                                      312-280-2148
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New ABC-TV PSAs promote today's libraries; 
libraries encouraged to get on board @ your libraryä 

             ABC Television Network is producing public service announcements (PSAs) about the importance of today's libraries as part of ABC's Children First series.  These PSAs reflect a new relationship between ABC and The Campaign for America's Libraries, ALA's five-year public education effort to promote the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century. 
The first of these PSAs features ABC stars - including Meredith Vieira from the daytime talk show The View and Lynn Herring from Port Charles, a daytime soap opera.  The PSAs are currently being distributed by ABC to its 219 local television affiliates nationwide. 
To ensure that these PSAs get airtime, libraries across the country are urged to contact their local television stations. A tipsheet called "Get On Board @ your libraryä: How You Can Promote New Exciting ABC Public Service Announcements" is available online on the campaign Web site at [log in to unmask] with ideas for reaching out and working with local television spots now and throughout the year, as well as contact information for local stations.
"These PSAs are highly visible vehicles for communicating key messages of the @ your library campaign and are broad enough that they represent all types of libraries," says ALA President John W. Berry. "We hope that libraries nationwide will make the most of ABC's commitment to America's libraries by assisting us in following up with their local stations."
For more information on The Campaign for America's Libraries, please visit [log in to unmask] Libraries are also encouraged to link to the campaign's consumer site at www.atyourlibrary.org.  
 
3M Library Systems, the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, Major League Baseball and Morningstar Foods Inc., maker of Hershey's Milk, are founding partners in the campaign.
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