Get graphic @ your libraryTM during Teen Read Week

Contact: Larra Clark


312-280-5043






For Immediate Release


September 2002

Get graphic @ your library™ during Teen Read Week

Holy comic books, Batman! There are graphic novels in the library!

Some of the most adventurous storytelling available, graphic novels are gaining popularity among young adults. With such popular writers and artists as Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith, Art Spiegelman and Alex Ross leading the way, graphic novels also are gaining acceptance with librarians and teachers, and can now be found on library shelves and in school curriculum.

This year's Teen Read Week theme, Get Graphic @ your library,™ celebrates the popularity of graphic novels with teens and encourages teens to read for the fun of it and choose for themselves the books that interest them. Teen Read Week is celebrated October 13 -19 in school and public libraries and bookstores across the country.

"The best use of the graphical format I've seen is that one of my teen friends created a graphic novel for her college admissions essay. And she got accepted," said Caryn Sipos, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association. "Where did she learn about graphic novels? @ her library!"

According to a 2001 survey by Smartgirl.org, 41 percent of girls and 29 percent of boys don't read because they are too busy with other activities. Reluctant readers, teenagers who, for whatever reason, choose not to read, have always been a concern for librarians. Each year, YALSA publishes the Quick Picks list, which includes titles that will appeal to reluctant teen readers, aged 12 - 18 years old. YALSA also awards the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults, which went this year to An Na for "A Step from Heaven." More information about Quick Picks and the Printz award can be found at
YALSA's Booklists and Book Awards Web site.

Teen use of and leadership in libraries is a growing trend in libraries:

  • Libraries are creating teen advisory boards that help decide everything from programming topics to books in the library to designing teen spaces.
  • Libraries are adding or creating spaces devoted to teens and their interests, such as Teen Central in Phoenix.
  • At a recent YALSA preconference during the ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta, more than 150 librarians turned out to learn more about graphic novels and how to add them to their library collection.

Now in its fifth year, Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative of YALSA, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The initiative is aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. Its goals are to give teens time to read for the fun of it, allow teens to select their own reading material, and help teens get in the habit of reading regularly and often.

Teen Read Week corporate sponsors include Barnes & Noble Booksellers, New Line Cinema, Harcourt, Inc., Random House. Friends include CrossGen Comics, Scholastic, Dark Horse Comics and Pamela Spencer Holley. Nonprofit partners include: American Association of School Administrators, American Booksellers Association, Kidsnet, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Council of Teachers of English, SmartGirl.org, The N/Noggin, National Education Association, National School Boards Association, Speak Up Press, International Reading Association and
TeenInk.

For more information, visit
http://www.ala.org/teenread/trw/ or contact YALSA at 800-545-2433 x4390;
yalsa@ala.org.