91´«Ã½

CHICAGO - For those with an appreciative and/or competitive spirit, 91´«Ã½-APA is hosting a contest with no prize other than the knowledge that your state celebrates its library workers publicly on National Library Workers Day (NLWD), Tuesday, April 12.

Yet the following states have no NLWD stars currently submitted: Delaware, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

But there’s still time. The state with the most NLWD stars will be announced in the May issue of . Submitting your favorite library employee as an NLWD Star is a simple way to let those employees know that you notice and appreciate the good job they’re doing. 91´«Ã½-APA will accept through the end of the day on Tuesday, April 12, and they will be posted by Friday, April 15.

This year, the Galaxy of Stars allows nominators to include captioned photos, which are optional. 91´«Ã½-APA also invites library staff to tell others how they will be celebrating on Tuesday, April 12, on the NLWD Facebook page - . If you don’t have ideas, the has many. For example, Nancy Murray and the Friends of the Walpole (Mass.) Library will deliciously “celebrate our great staff M-S during National Library Week starting Monday April 11 2011 with assorted Pastries and Bagels; Tuesday is Chocolate Rescue assorted Chocolates and Valomilks; Wednesday is 5 Dollar Dunkin Donut Gift cards for all staff; Thursday is Pizza day; Friday is Cupcake Bonanza; and Saturday is Surprise Saturday. We started this tradition last year and are in year two of celebrating the people who help us with a smile.”

There is an on Café Press, which currently has excellent discounts on low-cost items like t-shirts, bags and stickers to share with library staff on our national holiday.

And don’t forget to wear red on NLWD in support of , which is on the same date for 2011.