Contact: Stephanie Kuenn
YALSA
(312) 280-2128
NEWS
For Immediate Release
May 5, 2009
Thousands celebrate technology at libraries during Teen Tech Week™ 2009
Teens select 2010 theme, librarians win great prizes
CHICAGO —Â Thousands of school and public libraries throughout the country joined the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), in celebrating Teen Techh Week 2009, March 8-14, encouraging teens to take advantage of the many technologies available to them at their libraries.. More than 1,700 libraries embraced the 2009 theme, Press Play @ your library®, by hosting an array of events and programs that encouraged teens to get connected with gaming, video, and music at the library.
Teen Tech Week 2009 also offered teens opportunities to directly participate. Teens voted on the theme of Teen Tech Week 2010, which will be held March 7-13. The winning theme is Create, Share, Learn @ your library. Teens also offered their opinions on the electronic resources available at their libraries and about how they used video, which YALSA will use to develop tools and resources for librarians and educators.
“Teen Tech Week 2009 was outstanding,” said Sarah Cornish Debraski, YALSA president. “As people are relying on libraries to provide access to expensive technology and equipment, Teen Tech Week is an excellent time to highlight just what's available and how librarians can help the public to use them.”
In addition, Teen Tech Week partners offered special prizes to registrants. Andrea Clarke, a library media specialist at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, Va., won a free year’s subscription to Teen Health and Wellness, given away by Teen Tech Week Promotional Partner Rosen Publishing. Susan Robinson of Sayre (Pa.) Public Library won a free virtual author visit from Nina Malkin, author of “Swoon,” courtesy of Teen Tech Week Promotional Partner Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association and is aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The initiative encourages teens to become competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks and videogames. Teen Tech Week also recognizes that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology. Teen Tech Week began in 2007 with a general theme of Get Connected @ your library. Teen Tech Week Promotional Partners include ALA Graphics, Evanced Solutions, Rosen Publishing, Simon & Schuster and the Verizon Foundation. DoSomething.org is a Teen Tech Week Nonprofit Supporter.
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.
