The award, sponsored by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, is designed to provide up to $4,000 to an ALSC member library to fund a visit from an author/illustrator who will speak to children who might otherwise not have had the opportunity to hear from a nationally known author/illustrator.

The city of Biddeford, Maine is a fast growing community of more than 22,000 culturally and vocationally diverse citizens. A staggering 16.8 percent of the children in Biddeford are living below the federally established poverty level, and individual organizations struggle to provide much needed services and resources. In an attempt to better serve our community, several organizations have partnered to reach a large number of children for the least amount of money.

The McArthur Public Library, located in Biddeford, plans to partner with the Biddeford Intermediate School Library Team, the Biddeford Middle School and the Biddeford Parent Teacher Organization to offer One Book, One School, One Library, a community-wide event that includes writing workshops, a book talk and a social event.

“The administrative support and cooperation with other organizations is strongly demonstrated in this award,” said Susan Veltfort, Grant Administration Committee chair. “The committee was impressed by the well thought out program centered children and literature.”

The Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award was established in 2005 with funding from Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing to honor its former director of library services, Maureen Hayes, for her life-long efforts to bring together children and authors/illustrators.

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,200 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s Web site at .

Members of the 2010 ALSC Grant Administration Committee include: Susan Veltfort, chair, King County (Wash.) Library System; Nancy Baumann, School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, University of Missouri; Krista Britton, Prince William (Va.) Schools; Lori Coffey Hancock, Lexington (Ky.) School; Melanie Lyttle, Madison (Ohio) Public Library; Katherine Tekakwitha McCabe, Briarcliff Middle School, N.Y.; Kristine Springer, St. Joseph County (Ind.) Public Library; Tracy-Lyn Van Dyne, Conetquot (N.Y.) Public Library; and Vera Wexler, N.Y.