Jo
di Krahnke, young adult librarian at the Ypsilanti District Library’s Michigan Avenue Branch in Michigan, and Cari Rérat, teen librarian at the Joplin Public Library in Missouri, have each been awarded a Books for Teens Grant, administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Both will receive a grant of $1,000, donated by YALSA, to empower teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. The grant recipients are YALSA members who work directly with young adults ages 12–18.
Krahnke will use the grant to purchase books to give away as library card registration incentives and for the library’s monthly teen book club, while Rérat’s goal is to partner with the Jasper County (MO) Juvenile Detention Center and update the center’s library.
Books for Teens’ mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to institutions in communities with a high level of poverty, where librarians and library workers will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities. Visit the Books for Teens website for complete information on grant requirements.