Celebrate reading for the fun of it with YALSA’s Teen Read Week™ - 2008 theme is Books with Bite @ your library®

Contacts: Macey Morales
Manager, ALA Media Relations
(312)280-4393
mmorales@ala.org

Jennifer Petersen
Public Relations Coordinator, ALA-PIO
(312)280-5043
jpetersen@ala.org

For Immediate Release,
April 29, 2008

Celebrate reading for the fun of it with YALSA’s Teen Read Week™

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2008 theme is Books with Bite @ your library®

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CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has now launched Teen Read Week 2008. Teen Read Week is Oct. 12-18, with a theme of Books with Bite @ your library, encouraging teens to read, just for the fun of it. More information, including registration benefits, can be found at www.ala.org/teenread.

“Ever since YALSA celebrated the first Teen Read Week more than a decade ago, we have been using the third week in October to remind teens of the importance of reading for pleasure,’” said YALSA President Paula Brehm–Heeger. “While our sub-theme changes each year — and this year's teen-selected theme of Books with Bite" promises to be a great foundation for many creative activities — the basic message remains the same: encourage teens to read and discover all that books and libraries have to offer them.”

Mirrorstone Books, a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, is the 2008 Corporate Sponsor of Teen Read Week for the second year in a row. Promotional Partners include ALA Graphics, e*vanced solutions, Galaxy Press, Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Listening Library, Scholastic and Zest Books. Nonprofit supporting organizations include the American Association of School Administrators, American Booksellers Association, Cable in the Classroom, International Reading Association, Kidsnet, Kids Care, The N/Noggin, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Education Association, National School Boards Association, SmartGirl.org, Speak Up Press, Swept Away TV/The Rock Star Stories, and TeenInk.

Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. The purpose of the event is to increase the number of teens who are regular readers and library users. It began in 1998 and is celebrated the third week in October. For more information, contact the YALSA office by e-mail at yalsa@ala.org, or by phone at 1 –(800) 545-2433, ext. 4387.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.