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Bay Area News
UH-Clear Lake students support Operation Teen
Book Drop
by Carol Pruitt
University of Houston-Clear Lake members of the Young Adult Library Services
Association delivered more than 700 books to teen patients at the Texas
Children’s Hospital in celebration of the second annual Teen Literature Day
on April 17. The effort is part of Operation Teen Book Drop and is held in
conjunction with National Library Week (April 13-19) with the intent of
encouraging more teens to choose reading as a leisure activity.
Operation Teen Book Drop was organized by the national Young Adult Library
Services Association and readergirlz, an online book community for young
teens, and supported by UH-Clear Lake School Library and Information Science
faculty. The books were delivered to seriously ill or hospitalized teens to
provide solace, entertainment and a means of providing a sense of personal
accomplishment.
“All kids need books – no matter where they are,” according to Paula
Griffith, UH-Clear Lake School Library and Information Science instructor.
“When lives are interrupted by illness, books become even more crucial, and
kids especially enjoy reading about other people their own age.”
Participating UH-Clear Lake students included Rachel Hunter, Jill Hanley,
Chrissy Johnston, Melissa Bonner, Laurie Baxter, Erin Casteel, Maria Ramirez
and Carrie Tabuena. The volunteers attached bookplates, inserted bookmarks,
and included a list of additional book recommendations before delivering the
books to the children.
Nationwide, the generosity of more than 20 publishers helped make the event
successful, with donations of more than 10,000 teen books for distribution
to twelve children’s hospitals across the country, including Texas
Children’s Hospital in Houston.
In addition to Operation Teen Book Drop, the association will sponsor Teen
Read Week 2008, Oct 12-18, to encourage teens to read just for the fun of
it. The theme of this year’s event is Books with Bite @ your library.
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