Media contact: 

Veronda J. Pitchford, Program Officer, ULC, 847.866.9999, vjpitchford@urbanlibraries.org

Library Conference to focus on serving youth during out-of-school time

How public libraries can build an agenda for serving urban youth during out-of-school hours will be the focus of the Learning in Libraries national conference to be held October 19-20 in New York City.

Presented by the Urban Libraries Council, the conference will feature lessons learned from the Learning in Libraries (LiL) initiative, collaboration between Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library and Queens Public Library.  Speakers will include leading experts working with urban youth during out-of-school hours, as well as library team leaders.

The Learning in Libraries initiative is a direct response to the pressing need for urban communities to provide programs that enrich children’s lives during non-school hours. Sponsored by The Wallace Foundation and facilitated by the Urban Libraries Council, the initiative supports and expands the unique role libraries play in serving youth.

Conference participants will learn how to:

• Strengthen the capacity of libraries to serve youth through professional development for staff.
• Create a service plan for youth in the out-of-school hours.
• Enhance learning through electronic homework help.
• Promote reading during the summer months.
• Tie library services to larger community initiates for youth development and civic involvement.

Libraries throughout the country are invited to send teams of three to four people, including staff and community partners from local government, schools and youth service agencies. Representatives from state libraries, foundations, media and agencies serving youth also are welcome to attend.

Registration will open in June. A limited number of travel grants will be available to support library teams. Information about applying for these grants will be available June 1, 2006. The deadline for registration is July 31. 

The Wallace Foundation seeks to support and share effective ideas and practices that will strengthen education leadership, arts participation and out-of-school learning.  For more information on the Wallace Foundation please visit:  http://www.wallacefoundation.org.

For more information on the Learning in Libraries national conference visit: http://www.urbanlibraries.org/learninginlibrariesoctoberconference.html, send email to info@urbanlibraires.org or call 847-866-9999.   

About the Urban Libraries Council

For more than 30 years the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) has worked to strengthen public libraries as an essential part of urban life.  A membership organization of North America’s premier public library systems and the corporations that serve them, the ULC serves as a forum for sharing best practices resulting from targeted research, education and forecasting.  The ULC’s programs are acclaimed for inspiring new organizational models that invigorate urban libraries and enrich the areas surrounding them.  The ULC is headquartered in Evanston, Illinois.  For more information, visit the group on the Web at www.urbanlibraries.com.