2016 Teen Read Week™ Initiative launched

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has launched its 2016 Teen Read Week (TRW) website, www.ala.org/teenread.

YALSA encourages libraries to use a multi-lingual “Read for the fun of it” theme during Teen Read Week™, October 9 - 15, 2016, and to highlight services and resources for and with the 22% of the nation’s youth who speak a language other than English at home (Kids Count Data Center). This year’s Teen Read Week poster features a “Read for the fun of it” theme in the six most spoken languages in the U.S.: English, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Spanish, Vietnamese and Tagalog.

Library staff, educators and afterschool providers are encouraged to join the free Teen Read Week site for full access to a variety of resources to help them plan their Teen Read Week activities, including:

• Forums: Discuss and share TRW-related resources and experiences;
• Grants: Teen Read Week Activity Grant and Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway;
• Planning and publicity tools;
• Products: Posters, bookmarks, manuals and more;
• Themed logo (site members only): Downloadable low-resolution theme logo;
• Webinars (site members only): Free access to live and archived webinars;
• and more resources and perks to come;

As libraries begin to plan for Teen Read Week, authors and publishers are reminded they can also be involved in Teen Read Week. Publishers and other corporate groups can become sponsors to help YALSA build the capacity of libraries to meet the literacies needs of teens. For more information on how to become a sponsor, please contact YALSA’s Executive Director, Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org.

Teen Read Week™ is a national adolescent literacies initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association. It is held annually in October, the same week as Columbus Day. Its purpose is to encourage all teens to be regular readers and library users. Join the discussion on social media with the hashtag #TRW16. Teen Read Week is generously supported in part by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and library staff 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.