Teen Read Week partner Barnes & Noble to Get Graphic @ your libraryTM

Contact: Cindy Welch


312-280-4391

cwelch@ala.org


For Immediate Release


August 27, 2002

Teen Read Week partner Barnes & Noble to Get Graphic @ your library™

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is pleased to announce that for the third straight year Barnes and Noble Booksellers, is a corporate sponsor for the Teen Read Week, 2002. Barnes & Noble, Inc. operates 582 Barnes & Noble and 328 B. Dalton bookstores. Teen Read Week is included on the Barnes & Noble Booksellers' store events calendars nationwide and information about this initiative will be posted on their corporate Web site,
www.barnesandnobleinc.com/company.

"Get Graphic @ your library™" is the theme of Teen Read Week 2002, which is celebrated in hundreds of schools, bookstores and libraries across the country October 13-19, 2002. Teens are encouraged to "Read For The Fun Of It," so their reading skills will stay sharp and they will develop a lifelong reading habit.

During Teen Read Week, selected Barnes & Noble stores will feature table displays, and host special teen events.

"I'm delighted to once again welcome Barnes & Noble as a sponsor of Teen Read Week," said Caryn Sipos, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) president. "Working together to connect teens and books is a win-win situation all around. What a great partnership - libraries, booksellers and teens!"

Now in its fifth year, Teen Read Week is a nationally recognized literacy initiative of the YALSA, a division of the American Library Association. This initiative is aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. Its goals are:

  • Give teens time to read for the fun of it
  • Allow teens to select their own reading materials
  • Help teens get in the habit of reading regularly and often

In year-round support of this literacy initiative, a special Web site has been developed that allows YALSA to offer booklists, reading research and survey results related to teen reading habits. The Web site can be found at
www.ala.org/teenread.

Other Teen Read Week corporate sponsors include New Line Cinema and Harcourt, Inc. 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 about Teen Read Week, visit
www.ala.org/teenread or contact the YALSA Office at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390 or e-mail
yalsa@ala.org.