Help YALSA give books to teens this holiday season with a matching gift!

CHICAGO — Planning your end-of-year holiday giving? Consider a donation to YALSA’s Books for Teens program, which raises funds to provide teens in low-income communities access to high-quality, recently published, age-appropriate books. If YALSA can raise $500 during the month of December, a generous benefactor has agreed to donate an additional $500.

Books for Teens’ mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high-quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to libraries in communities with a high level of poverty, where teen services librarians will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities.

“We are so excited for this opportunity to receive a matching donation,” said Alicia Blowers, Books for Teens jury chair. “As a new fundraising effort, Books for Teens is grateful for the kickstart that such a generous gift will provide.”

Help make the holidays happy for teens in low-income communities by making a donation of any size to YALSA’s Books for Teens.  Make a donation through the Books for Teens’ Causes page, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/booksforteens, or through the American Library Association fundraising page (make sure to select ALA Divisions and Offices and scroll down to YALSA, then select Books for Teens).

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens. For more information about these awards or for additional lists of recommended reading, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists. For more information about YALSA, please contact us via e-mail, yalsa@ala.org, or by phone, at 1 (800) 545-2433 ext. 4390.