CHICAGO – Promote quality family time at your library this Father’s Day weekend with Step Up to the Plate @ your library.

Step Up to the Plate encourages people of all ages to use the print and electronic resources available at their library to answer a series of trivia questions designed for their age group (10 and under; 11-13; 14-17; and 18 and over). This year, the program connects generations by exploring baseball’s more than 150-year history through topics like famous baseball families and historical baseball franchises. 

Step Up to the Plate encourages families to spend time at the library exploring our national pastime while working together to answer the questions in their playbooks. One lucky player will win a grand-prize trip to the Hall of Fame in October 2011.

Librarians that register for the program will gain access to a free online toolkit that contains programming ideas for families that can be held at the library. Ideas include:

• Asking parents and kids to submit their favorite baseball memories, whether it’s having seen a famous moment on TV, sharing a day at the ballpark or playing the game itself.  Create a display of everyone’s answers. 
• Hosting a program about keeping score in baseball. Encourage parents to attend with their children and grandparents to attend with their grandchildren.  Download sample scorecards for program attendees from baseballscorecard.com or baseball-almanac.com.
• Inviting parents and children to the library to create a baseball-themed “family history scroll.” Using poster board or butcher paper, have each family member include a paragraph about their favorite baseball player, a baseball game they attended or an update on how the Little League season is going. Have families include pictures, ticket stubs and other baseball memorabilia. At the end of the season collect the scrolls and exhibit them at the library.

To gain access to more programming ideas like these librarians can register for Step Up to the Plate at www.atyourlibrary.org/baseball. Registrants will also gain access to logos in both English and Spanish, a downloadable flier and bookmarks. Prizes are available for librarians who promote the program.

The winner will be selected at random from all players that submit a completed playbook with four correct answers.

Step Up to the Plate is housed on ALA's public awareness website, atyourlibrary.org. All content on the site is offered under a Creative Commons license, allowing librarians to re-purpose content for library newsletters, websites and blogs.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a Partner in The Campaign for America's Libraries, ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible in part by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations.

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