Local Librarian Announces Winner of State Reading Award

By: Vickie Howard

Vickie Howard, Central Middle School librarian, in Cape Girardeau, attended the Missouri Association of School Librarians 40th Annual Spring Conference held April 19-21, 2009, at Tan-Tar-A in Osage Beach, Missouri.

At one of the highlights of the conference, the Readers Award Banquet, MASL honored authors who were chosen by Missouri students for their outstanding books. The book, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer was the recipient of the Gateway Readers Award for students in grades 9-12; Rick Riordan, author of Lightning Thief was in attendance and received the Mark Twain Award for students in grades 4-6; and Jennifer Armstrong, author of Magnus at the Fire, received the Show Me Readers Award for students in grades 1-3. Ms. Armstrong and the illustrator, Owen Smith, were in attendance.

Mrs. Howard, who was the chair of the Truman Readers Award committee for the state of Missouri announced that Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer was the first recipient of this award for students in grades 6-8. Ms. Pfeffer will be in attendance to accept this award next spring.

Further information on the conference and the new 2009 Readers Award winners can be found at MASL's website: http://www.maslonline.org/