EIU Media Relations

Booth Library to Celebrate National Library Week (April 11-17)

Eastern Illinois University's Booth Library will celebrate National Library Week during the week of April 11 through 17, and will host several events and exhibitions.

On Monday, the library will host "An Evening with Neil Gaiman" from 5 to 7 p.m. in Booth Library Conference Room 4440. As the honorary chair of National Library Week, Gaiman will speak during this live streaming videoconference about his lifelong love of libraries and the role they play in a democratic society by supporting intellectual freedom and privacy. This event is coordinated by the American Library Association's Campaign for America 's Libraries and the Jessamine County (Ky.) Public Library, in collaboration with HarperCollins Children's Books, Internet2 and the University of Minnesota.

From 5 to 7 p.m. on both Sunday and Wednesday, library personnel will offer tours of the building to community residents and host a community borrower card drive. Tours will begin in the Marvin Foyer.

Booth's annual book sale will take place outside the north entrance of the library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday. A large selection of books in all subject areas and hundreds of paperback fiction titles will be available for sale. All items have been donated by the campus community, with proceeds from the sale to be used to enhance library programs and services. The library requests no advance sales.

Several exhibits related to National Library Week will be on display during the month of April: "The History of Illinois Libraries," located in the Atrium; "Transforming K-12 Students Today into College Students Tomorrow," in the Periodicals hallway; "Community Authors," featuring works by local writers, in the South Lobby; and "Neil Gaiman, Honorary Chair of National Library Week 2010," on display in the Marvin Foyer. This exhibit will feature works by Gaiman, the winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal for "The Graveyard Book."

More information about National Library Week can be found on the Booth Library Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BoothLibrary.