Please send this to as many people and discussion lists as you can.  It's a
big event and we'd like both broad awareness and a good turnout.  Thanks!

NEWS
For Immediate Release
June 13, 2000
Contact: Deborah Davis
312-280-2148  [log in to unmask]

ADA torch to shed light on
American Library Association Annual Conference

        The American Library Association (ALA) will welcome the Spirit of ADA 2000
Torch Relay to its 119th Annual Conference on Sunday, July 9, from 10:30-11
a.m., at McCormick Place Square, in front of the South Building of the
McCormick Place Convention Center, 23rd Street and King Drive. The rain
location is the Vista Ballroom in the South Building of McCormick Place.

ALA President Sarah Ann Long and ALA President-elect Nancy Kranich will
discuss the role that libraries play in making information and materials
accessible to people with disabilities. Also making remarks will be Andrew
J. Imparato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with
Disabilities (AAPD), and John M. Day, library director at Gallaudet
University in Washington, D.C., and past president of the Association of
Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASLCA). ASCLA is a division
of the ALA that advocates for library services for people with
disabilities. Members of the ALA Council, the association's governing body,
will also be on hand.

Following the presentation, ALA members will be invited to sign the AAPD's
national pledge to renew commitment to full implementation and enforcement
of the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

"Librarians are leaders in making information available to all people in
all formats," says ALA President Sarah Ann Long. "As a profession, we are
committed to providing services and resources that reflect the diverse
needs of the people we serve. I can't think of a better way to showcase how
libraries build community by reaching out to all types of library users
than by welcoming the ADA Torch Relay to our conference."

Organized by the AAPD and made possible by major support from Volkswagen
and sponsors such as the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults
with Disabilities, the 24-city torch relay celebrates the 10th anniversary
of the ADA. The event is designed to heighten awareness of the ADA and help
educate Americans about the 54 million people living with disabilities and
the resources that are available to them.

The relay begins on June 11 in Houston and ends in New York City on August
7. Major cities on the tour include Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Topeka, St. Louis, Madison, Chicago,
Memphis, Jackson, Montgomery, Tallahassee, Warm Springs, Atlanta, Columbia,
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Auburn Hills/Detroit and Boston.

Following the presentation at McCormick Place Square, the ADA 2000 Torch
Relay will head to the Chicago Cubs game at 12:30 p.m. and to Jackson Park
at 2:30 p.m.