Get Ready for YALSA's Teen Read Week
RSSBy SLJ Staff
YALSA plans to give out 10 mini grants--which consist of $450 in cash and $50 in Teen Read Week products--to assist librarians hosting Teen Read Week programs. This year's theme, Books with Beat @ your library, encourages the reading of books about music, poetry, and listening to audiobooks-and will take place from October 17-23. Teen Read Week started in 1998 and is celebrated annually by more than 5,000 librarians with a range of special events and programs aimed at encouraging teens to read for pleasure and to visit their libraries. With so many forms of entertainment available to today's young adults, YALSA says it's even more important to remind them about the importance of recreational reading. Research shows that teens who read for fun-and not just for school assignments-have better test scores and are more likely to succeed in the workforce. Studies also show that teens whose libraries are staffed by fulltime, qualified professionals-such as a state-certified school librarian or a full-time staff member dedicated to serving teens - do better on standardized tests and academically. "Reading is a fun, free activity that teens can engage in anytime, anywhere, and librarians are trained knowledge professionals who excel at matching the right book or other material to the right teen," YALSA says. Register for free and see how you can support teen reading in your community. Other YALSA tools include program ideas, planning resources, or publicity tools. Those interested in sharing their program plans can do so on the Teen Read Week Wiki. Don't forget to download the Teens' Top Ten nominations, which lets teens choose their favorite books each year. The 2010 nominations, chosen by teens in 15 book groups across the country, are now available. Also, register for the 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge, and your lucky teen can win a trip to WrestleMania XXVI in Atlanta next April, including airfare, hotel and tickets. At the same time, your library could win $2,000. WrestleMania registration ends July 31.
For those planning to celebrate this year's Teen Read Week but are a little short on funds, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has collaborated with publishers to provide mini-grants to needy libraries to purchase books and materials for their YA collections.
