What are you doing for Teen Read Week?

As an organization that provides academic afterschool programs to students, we are naturally concerned with the development of their literacy skills and abilities and encouraging their life long interest in reading. These are a few reasons why each year we join the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) in recognizing and celebrating Teen Read Week™, a national adolescent literacy initiative created to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users. 

An annual celebration, this year’s theme, Get Away, encourages libraries to help teens escape from the day to day grind of school, homework, family responsibilities, part time jobs and other activities by picking up something to read. 

In Reach found the Teens' Top Ten "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year, to be an amazing resource. Readers ages twelve to eighteen vote online and the winners for that year are announced the week after Teen Read Week. Below is the Top Ten for 2014. Encourage a teen to read at least one of these today. It's a great list to use as encouragement for reading throughout the year, i.e. read-a-thon, book club and so much more. We can barely wait to see what teens from across the country select for 2015.

2014 Teens’ Top Ten

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Macmillan/St. Martin's Griffin)

2. Splintered by A.G. Howard (ABRAMS/Amulet Books)

3. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Teen)

4. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (Penguin/Putnam Juvenile) 

5. Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends)

6. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards (Prometheus Books /Pyr)

7. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

8. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Random House/Delacorte Press)

9. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (Macmillan/Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

10. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner (Random House/Delacorte Press)

“Libraries are for making . . . communities stronger.” #TTW15

Fairmount Heights Library

On Wednesday, March 18, members of In Reach's Girls of Worth Literacy Club at William Paca Elementary (sixth grade girls) and the Quantum Project at Kenmoor Middle School (eighth graders) celebrated YALSA’s Teen Tech Week “Libraries are for Making...”at Fairmount Heights Library. Teen Tech Week is when libraries make the time to showcase all of the great digital resources and services that are available to help teens succeed in school and prepare for college and 21st century careers.

The staff at Fairmount Heights Library rock! They engaged students, each group for ninety minutes, in a session of coding and a session working in the new Dream Lab which is set up like a studio with all of the bells and whistles, and students were encouraged to check out books at end of the visit, which many of them did. From the computers that students can learn and practice coding on, to simply checking out books, whether online or in-person, there are so many wonderful options available to children, youth and families right at their neighborhood library. Options that can help make our communities stronger by increasing and supporting literacy from every angle. The Prince George’s County public library system has even made it easier for students to apply for their own library card.

One of our goals, this school year, was to engage as many students as possible in the use of their neighborhood library. The PGCMLS offers homework help electronically or via telephone and assistance with preparing resumes and much more for adults. Our libraries offer teens a space to extend their learning beyond the classroom where they can explore, create, share content and connect in meaningful ways to gain the digital literacy skills they need to be successful.

For more information about library services in Prince George’s County, MD, contact www.pgcmls.info.

YALSA - Young Adult Library Services Association, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/

Turning Dreams into Reality at Largo-Kettering Public Library - Celebrating #TeenReadWeek

Every year the Young Adult Library Services Association celebrates Teen Read Week, its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users. In Reach’s own Girls of Worth Afterschool Literacy Club visited the Largo-Kettering Public Library, one of their neighborhood libraries, in celebration of Teen Read Week. The group included 19 sixth grade girls, In Reach Executive Director, Toni A. Smith, Manger, College Access Programs, Katrina Robinson, and Partner Engagement Specialist and trip organizer, Samantha Trotter.

Largo-Kettering branch director, Devon Holland, opened her doors to the Girls of Worth. She gave an impromptu tour and provided the opportunity for each young lady to sign up for the new Student Library Card. This new card allows students to check out a limited number of items without a financial burden. The girls were intrigued to learn of some of the overlooked resources Prince George’s County Metropolitan Library Services offer. Some of which include online homework help, test prep sessions and access to online movie and music streaming all with their library card.

After the tour and discussion the girls had a chance to familiarize themselves with the branch. This time was filled with chatter between the young ladies about their favorite genres of literature as well as which books they would begin next. The bus ride home was filled with excitement. The girls discussed how they would be visiting the branch and checking out books, music and movies as soon as they received their new card. This Teen Read Week event met its goal of encouraging teens, in this case preteens, to be more frequent readers and library visitors! 

The Girls of Worth Afterschool Literacy Club is back!

First Team Win of the Year - Crossing the River Activity

Our Girls of Worth Afterschool Literacy Club is back in session for the 2014-2015 academic year with 19 sixth grade girls! Now entering its second year at William Paca ES in Landover, MD, another amazing program year is underway.

The purpose of Girls of Worth is to prepare girls for middle school by engaging them in fun, hands-on and confidence building activities that will strengthen them academically and further develop their 4C's - communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity - 21st century "super" skills.  

This year, in addition to using the Kindle Fire, we have added Practutor, an online tutoring program that customizes learning for each student based on individual skills and empowers them to master every concept of the Common Core Standards, to help strengthen the girls reading and math skills. Club members will also become pen pals and organize and implement a community service project.

Stay tuned for much more from these awesome girls!