PRESS RELEASE
May 21, 2002
“Big Glossy” Brochure Garners
Top Prize in ALA Competition
Hats off and kudos to the Libraries’ staff who worked on “The Big Glossy” brochure that has been selected a 2002 Best of Show Winner in the annual competition sponsored by the Public Relations Section of the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) of the American Library Association (ALA).
Entitled Welcome to the University of Maryland Libraries, the 34-page attractive publication, commonly referred to as “The Big Glossy” and now in its second printing, was the product of a collaborative effort involving Rebecca Wilson, Trudi Hahn, Doug McElrath, Sue Baughman, Judy Markowitz, and Gina Calia.
The Libraries’ winning publication was entered in the Services/Policy/Orientation category of the competition for libraries with total annual budgets exceeding $6 million.
More than 320 entries were received for the 2002 Best of Show Competition and the judges were very impressed with the high caliber of the work, according to Sherrill L. Smith, Assistant to the Director, Public Libraries of Saginaw, MI, and Chair of the LAMA Swap and Shop/Best of Show.
The Libraries will be sending 500 copies of “The Big Glossy” to the ALA’s Public Relations Swap and Shop event to be held during the ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta on Sunday, June 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Last year more than 1,100 library professionals came to the Swap and Shop to gather samples of public relations and marketing materials. Awards will be presented during the Swap and Shop.
Entries were judged on the quality of content which includes uniqueness of approach, audience appeal, and presentation in a clear, understandable and informative way. Materials submitted were also judged on format including attractive appearance, appropriateness of design/graphics/photo to the subject matter, and uniqueness of format.
Welcome to the University of Maryland Libraries offers a brief overview of collections, services, and resources, and effectively captures in one handy brochure information that had appeared in seven separate publications.
The Fall 1999 issue of Library
Issues , the UM Friends of the Libraries newsletter, took first place
in its category in the 2000 Best of Show Competition.
