December 14, 2012
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) and the Asian/Pacific American
Librarians Association (APALA) Announce Continued Sponsor, Toyota Financial
Services.
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians
Association (APALA) are pleased to announce their continued sponsorship from Toyota
Financial Services. Toyota Financial Services will sponsor the Talk Story: Sharing
stories, sharing culture program by providing funding for the second year for mini-grants
that will be awarded in early 2013.
Talk Story: Sharing stories, sharing culture (www.talkstorytogether.org) is a literacy
program that reaches out to Asian Pacific American (APA) and American Indian/Alaska
Native (AIAN) children and their families. The program celebrates and explores their stories
through books, oral traditions, and art to provide an interactive, enriching experience. 2013
will be the fourth year that AILA and APALA have partnered on the Talk Story project and
allocated grant funding to libraries to implement programs geared towards the APA/AIAN
communities. To date, thirteen Talk Story grants have been awarded.
This will be the second year that Toyota Financial Services has sponsored grant funding for
Talk Story and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to work with them now
and in the future. “Toyota Financial Services has been such a wonderful sponsor to work
with and their continued support will allow us to fund deserving libraries for another year”
said Liana Juliano and Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, chairs of the Talk Story committee for AILA
and APALA.
Grant applications will be available beginning in December and will be due February 15,
2013.
An affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), the American Indian Library
Association is a membership action group that addresses the library-related needs of
American Indians and Alaska Natives. Members are individuals and institutions interested
in the development of programs to improve Indian library, cultural, and informational
services in school, public, and research libraries on reservations. AILA is also committed to
disseminating information about Indian cultures, languages, values, and information needs
to the library community. Additional information about AILA can be found at
www.ailanet.org.
The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was established in 1980 by
librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to create an organization that would
address and support the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve
Asian/Pacific American communities. In addition, over the years, APALA has granted
numerous scholarships and awards. Additional information about APALA can be found at
www.apalaweb.org.
Talk Story: Sharing stories, sharing culture is a joint project between the American
Indian Library Association and the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association that
started as part of ALA 2009-2010 President Camila Alire’s Family Literacy Focus
Initiative. The project is sponsored by Toyota Financial Services.