FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Newport News Libraries win two statewide awards

Two programs of the Newport News Public Library System received awards last week from the Virginia Public Library Directors Association.

Two programs of the Newport News Public Library System received awards last week from the Virginia Public Library Directors Association.

The Youth Leadership Program of the Wickham Avenue Alliance won the award for the best 2010 Cooperative Program with other Libraries or Agencies for Virginia libraries serving a population of more than 100,000. The program series, “What’s Your Story? Share it at Your Library!” was named the 2010 Outstanding Adult Program for Virginia libraries serving a population of more than 100,000.

The awards were presented to Newport News Public Library System Director Izabela M. Cieszynski at the annual meeting of the Virginia Public Library Directors Association, April 22-23.

The Wickham Avenue Alliance brings the Pearl Bailey Library together with C. Waldo Scott Center, Doris Miller Recreation Center, YWCA Virginia Peninsula and Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center to enhance the quality of life and safety for youth and the Southeast Community. From June through August 2009, the Alliance’s Youth Leadership Program provided service learning experiences for 20 middle- and high-school students. The students received leadership and employment readiness training, volunteered a total of 2,600 hours and earned a $25 weekly stipend. Pearl Bailey Library’s Youth Services staff serve on the Wickham Avenue Alliance and managed the Youth Leadership Program at the Library.

“What’s Your Story? Share it at your Library!” was a series of free programs held Jan. 10 through June 6, 2009, that included storytelling performances, workshops and presentations. The programs were meant to inspire and teach a cross-section of Newport News residents to share their “story” in a variety of mediums, and roughly 500 community members participated. The program series was designed and implemented by Newport News Public Library System staff at each location and members of the Library System’s Neisser Speaker Series committee.

The Youth Leadership Program of the Wickham Avenue Alliance is ongoing. Some elements of the “What’s Your Story?” program also are ongoing, including the Veterans History Project at Grissom Library and a related program, the Newport News Oral History Project of Main Street Library’s Virginiana Room.

The Virginia Public Library Directors Association works to promote and improve public library services in Virginia; to provide a forum for discussion among public library directors; to promote professional growth and professional unity; to improve the visibility and effectiveness of public library services and processes; and to provide a means for statewide communication, research and planning concerning public library services and operations.
 

###