2017 Teen Read Week™ initiative launched

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has launched its 2017 Teen Read Week (TRW) website, www.ala.org/teenread.

YALSA encourages libraries to connect with teens around the theme “Unleash Your Story” during Teen Read Week™, October 8–14, 2017. Library staff, afterschool providers, and educators are encouraged to leverage this theme to encourage teens to write, tell and share their own stories as well as find stories, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, folktales, and more in their local library.

Library staff are also encouraged to join the free Teen Read Week site for full access to a variety of resources for help planning 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. 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. Its purpose is to encourage all teens to be regular readers and library users. Join the discussion on social media with the hashtag #TRW17. Teen Read Week is generously supported in part by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. 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.