Published: October 08, 2008 09:03 am      

Teen Read Week

Events include lock-in, ‘Rock Band’ tournament and WrestleMania Reading Challenge

Special to the Times-Tribune 

Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. It began in 1998 and is celebrated the third week in October — Oct. 12-18.

The week is an adolescent literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association.

The Corbin Public Library is celebrating Teen Read Week with the following activities:

• Oct. 10 — Teen lock-in from 5-10 p.m.  Registration required

• Oct. 13— Poetry Slam at 5:30 p.m.  We will be creating our own poem.

• Oct. 14 — “Rock Band” Tournament for Playstation 2 at 4:30 p.m.

• Oct. 16 — Scavenger Hunt at 6 p.m.

For more on the events, call the library at 528-6366.

Area teens are extending their reading beyond Teen Read Week by taking part in YALSA’s WrestleMania Reading Challenge. Teens are challenged to read 10 items in their free time between now and Jan. 15. This program is sponsored by World Wrestling Entertainment and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Teens can compete to earn prizes, including a trip to WrestleMania, and money for their library.

Sarah Debraski, YALSA’s president, feels that “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 have. That is why it’s important to encourage teens to set aside some time to read.”

Studies show a regular reading habit makes teens better readers, and Corbin librarian Lisa Kersey agrees.

“One of the most important ways teens acquire the habit is by watching adults they respect,” says Kersey. Being around adults who are avid readers can counteract the latest statistics from The Nation’s Report Card (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard), which indicates that in homes across America the number of different types of reading materials has decreased, and a smaller percentage of 17-year-olds saw adults reading in their homes.

Kersey hopes to increase teen literacy locally by offering a series of programs for teens throughout YALSA’s WrestleMania Reading Challenge.

There are two levels of teen participation:

• Teens can read 10 items and keep a log. When they submit the log to their librarian, they will get a free subscription to the new WWE Kids Magazine. They do not need to submit the reading logs to YALSA.

• Teens in grades 5-12 can read 10 items, keep a log and enter the bookmark design contest. Teens can stop by the library to pick up their bookmark entry form for the WWE Wrestlemania Reading Challenge starting Monday and can enter through Jan. 12. The Corbin Library will be choosing three local winners — a 5-6th-grade winner, a 7-8th-grade winner, and a 9-12th-grade winner — who will each receive a DVD from WWE and get a chance in the regional competition.

Fifteen regional bookmark winners (five from each grade categories) will win $2,000 for their library and a trip to Houston to see WrestleMania 25.

The grades 7-8th-grade and 9-12th-grade regional winners will also get the chance to compete to be the WrestleMania Reading Challenge National Champion.

For more about the contest, visit the Corbin Public Library at 305 Roy Kidd Ave. in Corbin.