Young adult literature is defined
as books aimed at readers aged 12-18. Unfortunately for teen readers they are the group most likely to be left out when small
libraries are selecting materials for their collections. In this day and age with all the technology available it is assumed
that teens are not reading. We picture them in their rooms surfing the web, glued to the television or playing the latest
game on their x-box. The truth is teens are still reading whether for pleasure or as assignments for school.
The Web Site Smart Girl,
performed a survey about teen reading. They found that out of 3,677 teen girls and guys that answered the survey, 1,776
say they enjoy reading a lot and only 506 responded that did not enjoy reading at all. When the participants were asked to
respond to the statement, "I read constantly for my own personal satisfaction", 24.62% strongly agreed, 28.76% agreed and
only 9% strongly disagreed.
Public libraries are very important to the surrounding communities and they must
provide for all potential patrons on limited budgets. Out of the 3,677 teens surveyed 1,787 said they got the majority of
their reading materials from the public library. Did you know that there is an
annual teen read week? This is something all libraries should celebrate. What better way to get our teens reading more and
in the library than a designated week to celebrate teen reading? According to the Smart Girl survey 1,981 teens didn’t
know if their public library celebrated teen read week. Is this because of a lack of publicity or do public libraries not
pay attention to this particular demographic?
Ask a librarian and they may say
that the budget is not spent on young adults because they represent a very small portion of the community and of the patrons
who use the library. They do not buy teen books for their library because the teens aren’t coming in. The problem there
is that teenagers are not going to start coming in and using the public library if there are no books for them.
This website has a purpose, we
are collecting young adult books both fiction and non-fiction to distribute to the small public libraries in New York Southern
Tier and Potter County Pennsylvania. Please note, that this is not a registered non-profit organization and so any donations
you make are not tax-deductible. Please take a few moments out of your day to look through this website and
to consider donating just one book for a small town teen.
If you would like to know more
about the survey mentioned above, check out the Smart Girl website for all the questions asked
of the teens who participated.