Wednesday, June 11, 2008

How READ Posters Get Made

From: http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/topstories/readposters.cfm

In addition to the hundreds of celebrity suggestions from librarians, teachers, readers and fans, ALA Graphics staff seeks out celebrities from a wide range of occupations: movie and TV stars, comedians, athletes, musicians, innovators, heroic figures and the like. We try to find highly recognizable–and therefore popular–celebrities. We also consider a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds to reach the diverse populations libraries serve.


We track all suggestions to monitor their popularity among library staff, students, and patrons, and if demand for a celebrity emerges, we add the name to the list. We discuss possible celebrities with an informal group of librarians. With all of this information at hand, we select iconic celebrities who we feel will best encourage reading, literacy, and life-long learning among children, teens, and adults alike.


The second part of the process can be considerably more difficult–contacting representatives for each celebrity and getting them to sign on. It may surprise you to know that not all the personalities we contact want to participate, as many are contacted so frequently for celebrity appearances. We often receive suggestions for celebrities that we have contacted on numerous occasions, but can’t persuade to participate.


A celebrity who signs on for the READ campaign can choose to hold any book of his or her choice. Some choose a recent read, others a childhood favorite, or something that has inspired them in their life. The professional photoshoots most often happen in Los Angeles or New York, where the celebrities and their photographers tend to be. None of our celebrity subjects are compensated for lending their image to the campaign.


To suggest your favorite celebrity, send an e-mail to graphicsmarketing@ala.org with “READ Poster Suggestion” in the subject line. We’re also getting a LISTEN campaign underway. Who would you like to see featured on a LISTEN poster?


And, did you know that you can make your own READ posters using the ALA’s READ CDs? Ask your librarian or teacher to invest in this fun idea! It's available at the ALA Store.
Here is a list of every celebrity who has posed for a READ (or LISTEN) poster so far:


1985 Bette Midler;Bill Cosby;Mikhail Baryshnikov;Sting

1986 George Burns;Goldie Hawn

1987 David Bowie;Diahann Carrol;Paul Newman

1988 Michael J. Fox;Oprah;Phil Collins;Ruben Blades

1989 Isiah Thomas;Steve Martin;William Hurt

1990 Bo Jackson;Glenn Close;Kirk Cameron

1991 Denzel Washington;Harrison Ford;REM

1992 Alec Baldwin;Jimmy Smits;Michael Chang;Michael Keaton;Whoopi Goldberg

1993 Graham Greene;Jackie Joyner-Kersee;Kristi Yamaguchi;Roseanne Arnold;Sean Connery

1994 Edward James Olmos;Elvis;Marlee Matlin;Michael Bolton;Spike Lee

1995 Branford Marsalis;Geena Davis;Little Women;Matt Dillon;Shaquille O'Neil
1996 Antonio Banderas;Barbara Walters;Courtney Cox;Danny Glover;Dr. Quinn Cast;Lawrence Bros.;Mel Gibson;Michelle Pfeiffer;Morgan Freeman;Tim Allen

1997 Bill Gates;Bill Nye;Brandy (Norwood);Cindy Crawford;Fabio;Hercules;Jay Leno;LL Cool J;Nicolas Cage;Oprah;Power Rangers;Rob Schneider;Rosie O'Donnell;Xena (Lucy Lawless)

1998 Emeril Lagasse;Grant Hill;Kim Basinger;Muammad Ali;Olsen Twins

1999Ani DiFrancoMelissa EtheridgeMichelle KwanMonicaRebecca Lobo

2000 Christina RicciEnrique IglesiasRegis PhilbinStephen HawkingTara Dakides

2001 Britney Spears;Chamique Holdsclaw;Coolio;Dr. Ruth;Elijah Wood/Lord of the Rings;Ian McKellen/Lord of the Rings;Kristine Lilly;Liv Tyler/Lord of the Rings;Marion Jones;Mike Mussina;Susan Sarandon;Tim Robbins;Weird Al;Yo-Yo Ma


2002 Firefighte;rIndigo Girls;LeVar Burton;Salma Hayek;Serena Williams;Tony Hawk

2003 Bernie Mac;Jason Kidd;Julia Stiles;Landon Donovan;Matt Kenseth;Missy Elliott

2004 Jeff Corwin;Orlando Bloom;Renée Fleming;Rick Bayless;Trace Adkins

2005 Aishwarya Rai;Anthony Hopkins;Colin Farrell;Ethan Hawke;George Lopez;Ice Cube;Jamie Kennedy;Johnny Damon;Keira Knightly;Margaret Cho;Mat Hoffman

2006 Alan Rickman;Ben Roethlisberger;Cedric the Entertainer;Dakota Fanning;Danica PatrickJohn Leguizamo;Kelly Ripa;New York Rangers;Sasha Cohen

2007 Cesar Millan;Corbin Bleu;Ewan McGregor;Hilary Swank;Los Lonely Boys;Sendhil Ramamurthy;William H. Macy

2008 Abigail Breslin;Common;Eva Mendes;Kareem Abdul-Jabbar;Rachael Ray;Steve Carell/Get Smart;The Wayans;Tim Gunn

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