Take the Challenge Librarians, educators, and administrators in a school or school district who are implementing a collaborative program with others in their school to align the curriculum to teach the skills needed in the 21^st century are invited to enter the Follett Challenge. Educators in elementary, middle, high school, and magnet/parochial/K-12 schools can apply. Entrants must complete an online application and upload a 3-5 minute video describing the program. Participants will be judged on whether programs “illustrate critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration between students and among teachers and other members of the school staff.” The Challenge opens November 1, 2013 and closes February 28, 2014. Be sure to check out the rules and fill out an application. The four semifinalists and the 10 People’s Choice winners will be announced on April 14; the grand prize winner will be announced on May 16. The grand prize winner will receive $60,000 in prizes as well as a celebration at their school; four semifinalists will earn $30,000 in prizes. Ten schools that receive the highest number of online votes from the public—the People’s Choice Winners—will receive $5,000 in prizes. Future of Libraries A Librarians for the 21st Century Grant of $50,000 has been awarded to the American Library Association (ALA) by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to establish a Center for the Future of Libraries. The project is intended to offer resources and tools to help library planners and community leaders understand new trends and how libraries and communities are changing. ALA plans to “develop a Center for the Future of Libraries website, establish a ‘future’ discussion group and blog, present interactive programming at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference, and convene a summit of thought leaders to help shape the future direction of the center.” “We see the new ALA Center for the Future of Libraries helping libraries in public, academic, and school communities identify emerging trends, provoke discussion on how to respond to—and shape—the future, and build connections with experts and innovative thinkers in other fields who can help libraries understand and meet the challenges of the future,” noted Keith Michael Fiels, ALA executive director. Día Mini-Grants You have until November 30 to apply for a mini-grant to help your library begin a Día Family Book Club program. The Book Club is meant to be an expansion of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Day of the Child/Day of the Book), which was developed by author Pat Mora and focuses on making reading an integral part of every child’s life. The grants, part of the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Everyone Reads @ your library grant, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, are intended to prepare libraries to incorporate Día into their existing programs throughout the year. The Día Family Book Club “is a reading program that engages children and families in the shared reading and discussion of contemporary children’s literature that reflects our common plurality.” Mini-grants of $2,000 will be awarded to up to 15 public libraries that can show a need to institute the Book Club to help them address diversity in their communities. Also, the funding from the grant will help ALSC formulate a Día Family Book Club National Curriculum that all libraries can access. Be sure to check out grant requirements and the application form.