When does Teen Read Week begin?

It will be Oct. 15-19 during the week. It officially starts on Oct. 14 and goes through Oct. 20.

What is Teen Read Week all about?

It started with the American Library Association. They do it every year. It&8217;s just a week where we take young adults and teenagers and try to get them to come to the library. We encourage reading and promote literacy.

What kinds of activities are planned?

We are having Patrick George come on Oct. 15 a 4 p.m. to give a motivational lecture. He&8217;s going to speak to them, which I&8217;m excited about because he has volunteered to do it. Then on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 18-19, we&8217;re going to show a movie here. The theme this year is &8220;Laugh out loud at your library,&8221; so we&8217;re hoping to get a comedy. After the movie, on Friday, I&8217;d like to meet with people who would be interested in having a book club. I know some home-schoolers have expressed interest in it.

How would the book club work?

I would like the kids to pick the books they might want to read. I would like Ashley, the children&8217;s librarian, and I to make suggestions but ultimately the kids to decided. I know there is a lot of suggested reading in school and those are great books. I&8217;d like the teenagers to decide to read something they are interested in and excited about.

Do you see many people from this particular age group come to the library on a regular basis?

Not as much as other groups. Usually they come if they have reports to do or schoolwork. It&8217;s usually last minute, which is understandable because I remember what it was like in high school.

What are your expectations for the week?

Hopefully, out of this we can get a book club started and that will build up.

Tell me more about the theme for the week.

It&8217;s a national theme and it&8217;s promoting comedy and the library. I&8217;m not sure how they pick their theme, but I know comedy is very popular with that age group and this is a time to promote it. We&8217;re going to make a list of books to go along with the comedy theme and maybe make a display of some books they will be interested in.