YALSA Launches Teen Read Week Website

YALSA has launched its 2014 Teen Read Week™ website as part of Celebrate Teen Literature Day, April 17, 2014.

With the launching of the site, online community members now have full access to a variety of resources to help them plan their Teen Read Week™ (TRW), which takes place in October. Individuals who are not online community members yet are encouraged to join, for free, to gain full access to resources, perks, and monthly updates.

Resources include:

• Downloadable, low-resolution theme logo
• Forums: Discuss and share TRW-related resources and experiences
• Grants: Teen Read Week™ Activity Grant and Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway
• Ready to use planning and publicity tools
• Products: Posters, bookmarks, manuals, and more
• Showcase: Share your planned events
• Webinars: Free access to a live webinar to help you prepare for TRW, as well as archived webinars
• And more resources and perks to come

The theme this year is “Turn Dreams into Reality @ your library” and will be celebrated October 12–18, 2014. The national spokesperson for this year’s celebration is Australian actor Brenton Thwaites, who stars in the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the book, The Giver, set for release on August 15, 2014.

As libraries shift into full gear to plan for Teen Read Week™, authors and publishers are reminded that they can also be involved in Teen Read Week™ as well. Publishers and other corporate groups can become sponsors to help YALSA build the capacity of libraries to meet the literacy needs of teens. Current sponsors include Blink and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. For more information on how to become a sponsor, please contact YALSA’s Executive Director, Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org. Authors can visit the Teen Read Week™ site for a list of ideas on how they can participate.

Teen Read Week™ is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). It began in 1998 and is held annually during the third week of October. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users. Join the online discussion with the hashtag #TRW14.