Alaska's Barnes & Noble stores join national No Name-Calling project

January is "No Name-Calling Month" at Barnes & Noble, and B&N stores nationwide are hosting events in support of GLSEN's annual No Name-Calling Week, happening this year on January 24-28, 2011. Stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks will hold Storytime readings and art activities before NNCW, and teaching materials on name-calling and bullying will be displayed during the month.

"Bringing awareness to the seriousness and severity of name-calling, teasing, bullying and cyber bullying is very important to Barnes & Noble. We're pleased to be partnering with Simon & Schuster and GLSEN for such an important effort," said Mary Amicucci, vice president of Children's Books for Barnes & Noble.

"GLSEN is excited to work with Barnes & Noble to bring No Name-Calling Week's message of respect to youth across the country throughout the month of January," said Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Executive Director Eliza Byard. "As the world's largest bookseller, we applaud Barnes & Noble for embracing this opportunity to raise awareness about the problems of name-calling and bullying."

No Name-Calling Week is a week of educational and art activities aimed at stopping name-calling and bullying of all kinds, including anti-LGBT harassment. Lessons and resources for elementary, middle and high schools are available online HERE.

Barnes & Noble's No Name-Calling Storytime in Anchorage is on Saturday, January 15 and includes the two books recommended in the press release quoted below. The Fairbanks Storytime is scheduled for Saturday, January 22, and involves a different book.

Barnes & Noble stores across the country have events planned throughout January to recognize No Name-Calling Month including: All stores will host a national Storytime event on Saturday, January 15 at 11 a.m. The event will include a Storytime reading of the books Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and One by Kathryn Otoshi, arts and crafts and other activities.

From January 15 through January 23, stores will host Barnes & Noble Educator Appreciation Week. Stores will have No Name-Calling materials available for teachers and educators including book recommendations, tip sheets for organizing No Name-Calling events, lesson plans for elementary and middle school students, classroom posters and buttons, [and] in-store panel discussions with GLSEN local chapters. Exclusive No Name-Calling articles by James Howe and Jodi Picoult will be featured in the January line-up of the More In Store program available on NOOK, the Barnes & Noble eBook Reader.

Barnes & Noble.com will feature a No Name-Calling page. Exclusive video content from bestselling children's, teen and adult authors will be placed on the site during the month of January... The authors will discuss their thoughts on and experiences with bullying.

Barnes & Noble stores will also provide information on GLSEN's Creative Expression Contest for Students:

The Creative Expression Contest is an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities. This year, we have added a new High School category to the contest for short-film submissions that focus on anti-LGBT name-calling and bullying in school. The goal is to have students working on their art pieces during the week as a way to learn about and deal with name-calling and bullying.

For contest guidelines, school resources and more information, visit No Name-Calling Week.

Thanks to GLSEN and their partners for the LGBT-inclusive No Name-Calling campaign, and to Barnes & Noble for bringing the anti-bullying message to their bookstores in Alaska and throughout the country.