JUNE 12, 2011 – BROOKLYN, NY
14 year-old Melissa Newkirk could hardly believe what happened last week when she visited the Windsor Terrace branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
After Ms. Newkirk had selected three books and brought them to the check-out desk, the librarian said something very peculiar. Instead of “May I have your library card?” or “Did you find everything you were looking for?,” librarian Rosa Salvador said to the young woman: “That’s an awful lot of books you have there….have you considered maybe watching more TV this summer?”
As part of the American Library Association’s latest initiative, librarians across the country will be asking young library-goers that very same question. In addition, the ALA will also unveil a multi-million-dollar campaign of print and video ads featuring celebrities watching their favorite shows. “While the ALA will continue to value the written word as much as ever,” says spokesman Charles Perlmutter, “our organization wants to make sure that the American youth’s surging interest in literature doesn’t distract them from enjoying other aspects of arts and culture- especially all the totally awesome TV that’s come out in the past few years.”
