LOL @ your Library during Teen Read Week

Here's a posting from Teen Services Librarian Geri Diorio.

We hope that local teens will be laughing and reading as the Ridgefield Library celebrates the tenth annual Teen Read Week (TM), October 14 – 20, 2007. We’ll join thousands of other libraries, schools and bookstores across the country who are encouraging teens to celebrate this year’s theme, "LOL @ your library®." Teen Read Week (TM) is the national adolescent literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association. This year’s theme encourages teens to read humorous books and graphic novels just for the fun of it. (For those who aren’t up on the jargon, LOL is text message shorthand for “laugh out loud.”)

Today’s teens seem to have less and less free time, and there are increasingly more activities for them to take part in during what little leisure time they do have. That is why it’s important to encourage teens to set aside some time to read. Studies show a regular reading habit increases reading proficiency, and one of the most important ways teens acquire the habit is by watching adults they respect.

Parents of teens are encouraged to celebrate Teen Read Week (TM) at home. You might give books or magazine subscriptions to your teen as a gift. You could share your favorite books with your teen. Perhaps you could set aside time each week for the family to read together. Teens are encouraged to come to the Ridgefield Library during Teen Read Week to check out the humorous books we’ll have on display, attend the laugh out loud Will Ferrell figure skating film screening on Friday, October 19 at 4 PM, or stop in any time during the week to tell Teen Services Librarian Geri a clean joke and thus “earn” a piece of candy. One joke per person per day, please! We always look forward to seeing Ridgefield teens at the Library, and we hope to see them all during Teen Read Week (TM).