Teen Read Week And Beyond

Begins Oct. 19 At Booth Library

The Young Adult Department at C.H. Booth Library is inviting young people to stop by during Teen Read Week, October 19-25, and to take a look at special displays in the front lobby and also in the YA area under the bicycle on the main floor.

Teen Read Week is sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of American Library Association (ALA).

One program of Teen Read Week will be Take Vote for Your Favorite Books. YALSA has selected 35 recent books nominated by teen reading groups around the country, and the list and most titles are available at Booth Library.

Readers ages 12-18 can vote online for three of their favorites during Teen Read Week. Vote in the library or at home by logging on to www.ala.org/TeenRead. Click on Teens’ Top Ten at the bottom of the left hand side menu, and then near the center of the next page page click on Quick Link to 2003 Nominated Titles.

If you are interested there is also a link describing how a panel of young readers decided on the books that are in each year’s nominees lists.

Poetry Reading Night

“Slammin’ @ Your Library” and the celebration of poetry is the theme of this year’s Teen Read Week. Young people write amazing poetry straight from the heart. The Young Adult Council is sponsoring a Poetry Reading on Friday, November 7, at 7 pm, for Newtown students in grades 6-12.

Poems must be submitted in advance. There will be workshops on Monday afternoon, October 20, from 3 to 4:30, and Wednesday, October 29, also from 3 to 4:30. These will offer time for students to work on writing and reading their poetry beforehand, coached by retired English teacher Mrs Liz Arneth, who is also an active library volunteer and board member.

Students are encouraged to come with a poem they’ve already written or begun, or just an idea. Students may also submit poems by others that they would like to read.

Call the library at 426-4533 or stop by the main floor circulation desk to register for the poetry reading. For more information speak to Mrs Margaret Brown, Booth Library’s Young Adult Librarian.

Teen Read Week, now in its sixth year, is a national literacy initiative aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers, and other concerned adults. Its goals are to give teens time to read for the fun of it, allow teens to select their own reading material, and to help teens get in the habit of reading regularly and often.

Teen Read Week will be celebrated in hundreds of schools, bookstores and libraries across the country the week of October 19-25.  Teens will be encouraged to “Read For The Fun Of It,” so their reading skills will stay sharp and they will develop a lifelong reading habit.