2018 Teen Read Week™ Initiative Launched!

The 2018 Teen Read Week (TRW) site is now live. Teen Read Week will be celebrated October 7–13 with the theme “It’s Written in the Stars: READ.”

Library staff, afterschool providers, and educators can use the theme to encourage teens to think and read outside of the box, as well as seek out fantasy, science fiction and other out-of- this-world reads.

Library staff are also encouraged to join the free Teen Read Week site for full access to a variety of resources to help plan their Teen Read Week activities, including:

  • Forums: Discuss and share TRW-related resources and experiences;
  • Grants: Teen Read Week Activity Grant and Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway;
  • Planningand publicity tools;
  • Products: Posters, bookmarks, manuals and more;
  • Themed logo (site members only): Downloadable low-resolution theme logo;
  • Webinars (site members only): Free access to live and archived webinars;
  • and more resources and perks to come

Continue reading 2018 Teen Read Week™ Initiative Launched!

2018 Teen Read Week™ theme Announced!

The theme was recently announced as “It’s Written in the Stars…READ” for this year’s Teen Read Week celebration, which will take place October 7-13. Library staff, afterschool providers and educators can use this theme to encourage teens to think and read outside of the box, as well as seek out fantasy, science fiction and other out-of- this-world reads.

The official site will launch on April 12, during National Library Week. Library staff are encouraged to join the site at www.ala.org/teenread for a variety of free resources for help planning Teen Read Week activities, including access to the TRW grant application, the 2018 logo, a publicity kit, a program planning template and more. Theme related products will be available in the ALA store after the site launch and will include print (available in English only) and digital products (available in English and Spanish).

Month in Review: September 2017

What happened in YA last month? Here is a quick round up of featured posts on The Hub and other links to keep you up to date when collecting for your teens.

month in review | yalsa's the hub

At the Hub

Continue reading Month in Review: September 2017

Take Five: Teen Read Week

It’s Teen Read Week, which celebrates teens reading for fun. To commemorate, Hub bloggers spent some time reflecting on their favorite books as teens.

Take Five The Hub

What was your favorite book as a teen?

Sometime when I was 16 or so, I ordered Over the Moon by Elissa Haden Guest from a Scholastic book order form. This author is best known for her Iris and Walter readers, but I adore this teen novel that she wrote in 1987. I re-read it so many times because it was such a quiet but powerful family story, and I hadn’t read one before that was so spare and lovely — not laying on the drama for page turns, but still exciting and sad. Today you have to ignore its unbelievably cheesy cover! Certain images still float through my head, like the one about the sister having “a wild streak” in her. If I wrote a book, I’d hope it would be as good as this well-kept secret. — Rebecca O’Neil

When I was a teen my favorite book was Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  I read this huge book (1,037 pages) and fell in love with the Civil War and all of the characters in the book.  Scarlett O’Hara was one of my favorites because she was such a strong woman.  In the beginning you might think she would give up after everything she goes through, but she never does.  I also love Rhett Butler because he is of course a bad boy and he always gets what he wants.  But in the end, I think it was Rhett who was the one that lost out on the most.  Scarlett just said “After all tomorrow is another day” and moved on to her next big thing.  Gone with the Wind is such a classic book written in 1936, but I think that teens today would still enjoy reading this book. — Kimberli Buckley Continue reading Take Five: Teen Read Week

Is This Just Fantasy? : How To Get Away With Fantasy

Next week is Teen Read Week and around the nation, libraries will be creating programs, book displays, and lists of reading recommendations surrounding the 2015 theme: “Getting Away @ Your Library.”  When I realized that I was scheduled to post this month’s edition of ‘Is This Just Fantasy?’ just before Teen Read Week’s kick off, I found myself wishing to reflect on the many connections between this year’s theme and fantasy fiction.

fantasy TRW post draft 1

Let’s start with the basic terminology.  The word ‘fantasy’ can be defined as the ability, activity, or product of imagining things, especially ideas or concepts that are impossible, improbable, or otherwise removed from our reality.  When applied to fiction, the term usually references a genre of literature that takes places within alternative worlds or includes events and characters which operate outside of the rules that govern our universe–usually through the existence of some kind of magic.  At its most basic level, the fantasy genre is all about getting away by leaving behind certain rules or limitations of our present reality.   Continue reading Is This Just Fantasy? : How To Get Away With Fantasy

2015 Teen Read Week Display Ideas: Get Away @ Your Library

This is a guest post courtesy of Kristyn Dorfman, a member of the Teen Read Week Committee. 

This years Teen Read Week theme is Get Away @ Your Library. What is so great about this year’s theme is that it is so versatile. “Get Away” can mean whatever you want it to mean. You can adapt your displays to fit your library collection, your interests or the interests of your patrons.

get away at your library teen read week 2015

If your teens are realistic fiction fans, go the travel route. You can highlight your collection of road trip titles. For your teens that like romance, stress titles where the meeting happens abroad. Bring on the gap year titles. It might be fun to display books that focus outside of the United States. You can create a map display and emphasize books written in or take place in other countries. We often tend to focus on North American titles but there are some great books out there that emphasize other parts of the world. However, there is no harm in staying local and you can create a map of the United States and have a title for each state. There are so many map possibilities.  Continue reading 2015 Teen Read Week Display Ideas: Get Away @ Your Library

Hunger Games Actress Willow Shields Invites You to Celebrate Teen Read Week

Happy Teen Read Weekâ„¢!

Hunger Games actress Willow Shields, who plays Primrose Everdeen in the franchise, invites you to celebrate Teen Read Week and Turn Dreams into Reality @ your library, October 12-18,2014!

Join in on the conversation by using the hashtag, #TRW14 and feel free to share this video, as well as your events, stories, and pictures with others on our Teen Read Week site!

 

Calling All Teens! YALSA announces Teen Blogging Contest for Teen Read Weekâ„¢

yalsa logoThe Hub is thrilled to be a part of YALSA’s Teen Read Week Teen Blogging contest!

Teens aged 12 -18 can sign up now through August 1, 2014 to participate in the contest for a chance to guest blog for YALSA’s young adult literature blog, The Hub. Selected teens will blog about a wide range of topics related to YA literature while also further developing their writing and blogging skills.

Blog posts written by the teen bloggers will be featured during the week of October 12 -18 in celebration of Teen Read Week.   Selected participants will be notified in August.  Visit the Teen Read Week website for all the details and guidelines about the contest. Teen Read Week will be celebrated Oct. 12 -18 this year with the theme “Turn Your Dreams into Reality @ your library.” Join the online discussion with the hashtag #TRW14.

If you’re a teen, we want to hear from you. And if you work with teens, spread the word about this exciting opportunity! We love featuring teen voices on The Hub, and can’t wait for Teen Read Week this year.

-Allison Tran, Hub Manager