Promoting the Teens’ Top Ten

Make a display

Promote the nominated books in a prominent location.  Include copies of any nominated books you have checked in, bookmarks with a list of the nominated titles and the website address where teens can vote, and an eye-catching sign.  Alternately, if you have a copyrighted version of book covers you can use, print off pictures of each of the book covers with a “reserve me now” sign.  Example:

Use your Website

Include the list of nominated titles and hyperlink each one to your online catalog for easy access.  Make sure to include a link to where they can vote during Teen Read Week! (Hint: www.ala.org/teenstopten will work nicely.)  Example:

Other Ideas

• If you have a teen blog, list the titles on the blog.  Each day, feature a different book by posting reviews and an author spotlight on the days leading up to Teen Read Week. Check out this example of a blog spotlight of the day.
• Hold book discussions where teens can debate who they think the winners should be. 
• Do a Final Four type of promotion with an elimination grid.  Set up an elimination poster where you gradually narrow down the nominees until you get the Final Four. 
• Play up the all American tradition of voting by dedicating one computer station to TTT voting.  Have a link set up on the desktop to the voting Web site, place bunting and flags all around with a big “vote here” sign.
• Have your reading group make “Campaign Posters” for the nominated books to play up the voting theme.  Create them in the style of political candidates, like the book itself is running for the office of a Teens' Top 10 choice.  Make a display of finished posters and put it near a voting station. 
• Create a map with pushpins that shows the location of the 15 groups that are reading and nominating.  This has two purposes: to let teens know what TTT is and how it works and to possibly motivate your reading group to apply to become one of the nominating groups.