Plan Your Event

Activities |
Planning Timeline

There are a number of ways to interpret this year’s theme, Picture It @ your library®! We’ve brainstormed a few program ideas and created a timeline to help you plan. You can also download a
Teen Read Week Planning Form (Word doc) to help you brainstorm.

For more great programming ideas or to share your own, visit the
Teen Read Week Wiki or add your programs to our interactive
Google Map.

View
2011 Teen Read Week Activities in a larger map

Activities

Picture It Display Contest

Ask your teens to recommend their favorite graphic novels, sci-fi or fantasy books, or anything else that fits the theme, and post their choices on your shelves and in the teen area. Get your teens to create “movie posters” based on books that fall under the Picture It theme and display them around your library with the books.

Reward the best displays and posters with a gift certificate to a bookstore.

Book Bracketology

Set up a March Madness-style tournament this summer or in the month leading up to Teen Read Week. Have teens choose their favorite books, and have them vote each week for a winner of each match up. Find books this year’s
Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, or the
Teens' Top Ten nominations.

Picture It Film Festival

Plan a movie event at your library with this year’s theme! Consider a “Read-the-Book/See-the-Movie” theme—try
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi or a fantasy series (Harry Potter, The Lightning Thief, etc.) Be sure to obtain a
Public Performance License before showing any movies at the library.

Art Appreciation Workshop

Partner with a local museum and plan an art appreciation or art careers event! Work with the curator to highlight artwork in the museum’s collection that may appeal to teens and find books to help them learn more about those works. The curator can also discuss his or her career and how he or she got her job.

Make Your Own Graphic Novel or Manga Workshop

Host a workshop at your library to teach teens how to create their own graphic novels or manga. Enlist a local artist with experience in either art form, or use materials like
Digital Manga Workshop: An Artist’s Guide to Creating Manga Illustrations on Your Computer by Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos or
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics, Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden.

Photography Workshop

Bring in a local photographer to talk about his or her work! They can lead a mini-photography workshop for teens and show them how to take and edit photos using software available at the library or free photo editing tools like Paint.net (
http://getpaint.net) or Gimp (www.gimp.org) or online editors like Aviary’s Phoenix (
www.aviary.com) or FotoFlexer (
http://fotoflexer.com). Highlight books featuring famous photographers like Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz, or Mary Ellen Mark.

Create Your Own
My So-Called Digital Life

Take inspiration from the 2007 Quick Pick title
My So-Called Digital Life: 2,000 Teenagers, 300 Cameras, and 30 Days to Document Their World, edited by Bob Pletka. Encourage teens to document their daily lives in the weeks or months leading up to Teen Read Week. Create a slideshow or online photo album with the results to share at your library.

Create Short Films & Book Trailers

Encourage teens to use free tools on the Web to create short films about the library or book trailers! If your library has video cameras (like the Flip), you can have teens shoot and edit videos using those. You can also use tools like Xtranormal (
www.xtranormal.com) or Animoto (
www.animoto.com) Looking for tips on making great book trailers? Check out this
blog post from librarian Naomi Bates!

Illustrator Visit

For a twist on the author visit, bring in an illustrator! You can find potential authors and illustrators through
YALSA’s YA Authors by State list or check with the
Children’s Book Council or Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Teen Read Week Planning Timeline

April

Register to participate at
www.ala.org/teenread
Check out the
Teens’ Top Ten nominations and work with your Teen Advisory Group (TAG) to come up with ideas to ensure that teens are reading the nominations all summer so they are ready to vote for their favorites.
Order
Teens’ Top Ten nominees not already in your collection, so they will be available for check out in time for summer reading

May

Work with your TAG to create book talks (digital, audio, live) for the
Teens’ Top Ten nominees
Visit teens in schools, community centers, etc. and book talk the
Teens’ Top Ten books
Meet with your TAG to decide how best to celebrate Teen Read Week (TRW) in your library
Based on your TAG meeting(s), write up a proposal and budget to share with your supervisor
Communicate your plans to the library staff and get any TRW events on the library and community calendars

June/July

Promote the Teens’ Top Ten nominees with your summer reading program
Read the summer issue of

Young Adult Library Services for TRW ideas and resources
Continue planning with your TAG. Think about what area organizations might be good to partner with. Once you know what your plans are, share them on the
Teen Read Week Wiki.
Order supplies and promotional materials.
ALA Graphics has official posters, bookmarks, digital downloads, and more.

August

Continue to promote the Teens’ Top Ten nominees along with your summer reading program
Contact & confirm presenters or speakers for your TRW events
Send VIPs invitations to attend TRW events
Work with your TAG to identify ways to market TRW events then create marketing materials
Encourage teens to vote online for their
Teens’ Top Ten favorites

September

Market TRW events to area teens
Invite local press and media to TRW events (use the
publicity tools on our website)
Find volunteers to be photographers or videographers for your TRW events
Work with your TAG to finalize plans
Update and prepare library staff for TRW
Work with your TAG to create a TRW display in the library, school, or community center.
Encourage teens to vote online for their
Teens’ Top Ten favorites

October

Contact local press and media to confirm attendance at events
Contact VIPs to remind them of the events
Work with your TAG to implement events
Evaluate your efforts
Send thank yous to volunteers, press, VIPs
Send press wrap up press release, photos, and any other post-event publicity material.