Caribou Public Library celebrates Teen Read Week Oct. 17 – 23

14 years ago

By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer

The Caribou Public Library will be celebrating Teen Read Week 2010, Oct. 17-23, with special events and programs aimed at encouraging area teens to read for the fun of it. Thousands of libraries, schools and bookstores across the country will hold similar events centered on this year’s theme, Books with Beat at your library, which encourages teens to read a variety of materials, including poetry, audio-books, books about music and more.

Teen Read Week is the national adolescent literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association.

“Teens have more activities to fill their free time than ever — web videos, social networking sites, video games, after-school activities, athletics — and increasingly high expectations in the classroom,” said Mona Martin, assistant librarian at the Caribou Public Library. “It’s important that we show them that reading is something that’s fun and relaxing that they can do for free — and that reading for fun can translate into better performance at school.”

To this end, the Caribou Public Library will  offer special events during Teen Read Week for teens in grades 6-12. Teens are encouraged to come to the library for the Books with Beat display, featuring book reviews written by their peers. Participants can also enter the book trivia contest throughout the week and be entered to win various prizes. All teens grades 6-12 are invited to the Teen Read-a-thon on Monday, Oct. 18 from 3:30 to 8 p.m. where teens will participate in sustained reading with prize rewards.  

“Many families are learning to make do with less as a result of the economy,” Martin said. “Teen Read Week is a great time to make sure these families know about the free services the library can offer them and to reach out to teens who aren’t regular library users and encourage them to come see what they can find here,” she added.

For more information or to register for the Teen Read-a-Thon, contact Martin at the Caribou Public Library by calling 493-4214 or e-mail momartin@caribou-public.lib.me.us.