2015 Teen Tech Week™ site goes live, register for free digital promotional materials

For Immediate Release
Tue, 11/18/2014

Contact:

Anna Lam

Communications Specialist

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

alam@ala.org

CHICAGO – The official Teen Tech Week website of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is now live, with updated materials for the 2015 celebration. YALSA calls on school and public library staff across the country to use Teen Tech Week as an opportunity to raise awareness in their local community about the digital resources and services their library offers to help teens succeed in school and prepare for college and careers.

Teen Tech Week 2015 features the theme “Libraries are for Making…” and takes place March 8-14, 2015. The theme encourages libraries to promote itself as a place where teens can pursue their interests via hands-on activities and extend learning beyond the classroom.

New this year, individuals who join the Teen Tech Week site will have access to free, themed digital downloads of mini-posters, bookmarks and more. The themed posters and bookmarks feature four different interpretations of the theme. The main artwork features a blank space after the tagline “Libraries are for Making…” that allows library staff to write in a word or phrase that describes their library’s making activities.

Designs of the remaining three posters and bookmarks feature artwork that corresponds to the taglines “Libraries are for Making Connections,” “Libraries are for Making Futures” and “Libraries are for Making Innovations.”

Library staff are encouraged to utilize any or all of the themed art to suit their library’s needs, as well as share images and their own interpretation of the theme by tweeting @yalsa and using the hashtag #TTW15 or by sharing photos on the Teen Tech Week site.

Registrants of the Teen Tech Week site will also have the opportunity to sign up to attend a free webinar facilitated by Dr. Mega Subramaniam titled “Demystifying Connected Learning” at noon EST on Dec. 16. Interested participants can register via this online form.  

Supplemental products related to Teen Tech Week and digital literacy, such as a Makerspace Safety poster, a Good Digital Citizen poster and bookmark, and YALSA’s Teen Read Week and Teen Tech Week: Tips and Resources for YALSA’s Initiative publication is available for purchase through the ALA Store.

Learn more about making in libraries via the resources on YALSA’s wiki, including a free webinar and downloadable toolkit.  Read YALSA’s recent report “The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action” to learn more about libraries’ role in helping teens extend their learning beyond the classroom in order to gain the digital literacy skills needed for 21st century careers.  The report can be accessed at www.ala.org/yaforum.

Teen Tech Week is a national celebration that offers libraries the chance to highlight all of the digital tools, resources and services they offer to teens and their families. It will be celebrated with the theme “Libraries are for Making….”  To learn more about Teen Tech Week, visit www.ala.org/teentechweek, or check out #TTW15 on Twitter.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.