Foreword

It is with great pleasure that the Texas State Library and Archives Commission initiates the first annual Texas Teens Read! This program fulfills a need that has been long recognized: to support Texas libraries in encouraging teens to visit the library, read, and attend enjoyable programs during the summer months. We are especially pleased to inaugurate this program for youth from 12 to 18 in the same year we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Texas Reading Club. The report, Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public and Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century, identified providing a safe and engaging space for teens as a vital community need that libraries can address while simultaneously positioning themselves as funding priorities for elected officials.1 Texas Teens Read! is designed to help Texas libraries meet that challenge.

A unique theme that appeals to teens will be selected annually for Texas Teens Read! The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) will provide a programming manual and artwork to support each theme, free of charge to participating Texas libraries. The artwork will include posters, certificates, bookmarks, and clip art created by award-winning illustrators of young adult literature. The programming manual will feature eight programs that will bring teens into the library for summer fun while providing experiences that help build positive developmental assets.

At the request of TSLAC, the Young Adult Round Table (YART) of the Texas Library Association formed a committee to advise in the development of Texas Teens Read! The ongoing role of the Texas Teens Read! Advisory Committee is to propose annual themes, nominate artists to create artwork, and co-sponsor a program about the manual and a presentation by the artist at each annual Texas Library Association conference.

The Texas Teens Read! Advisory Committee selected the theme Game On! TTR.08 for the first Texas Teens Read! and nominated artist Rod Espinosa. We are delighted with Mr. Espinosa’s artwork for the first Texas Teens Read! Four members of the Texas Teens Read! Advisory Committee wrote the eight exciting programs in this manual on electronic gaming, role-playing games, board games, trivia games, extreme sports, and more. We are proud of the authors and their work on this inaugural Game On! TTR.08 manual. You may read about Mr. Espinosa and the authors in the introduction to this manual.

I would like to express my gratitude to Peggy Rudd, Texas State Librarian, and to Deborah Littrell, Library Development Division Director, for supporting Texas Teens Read! as an ongoing program of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. My thanks also go to YART Chairs Susi Grissom and Jeana Actkinson and the Texas Teens Read! Advisory Committee who contributed so much to developing this program, including Kim Archer, Denise Bortolussi, Deban Becker, Patricia Costello, Kate DiPronio, Monique Franklin, Jennifer Freeman, and WyLaina Hildreth, Amanda Hipp, Valerie Jensen, Sheilah Kosco, and Kendra Perkins (chair). I am very grateful to Rod Espinosa for preparing artwork that so perfectly captures the theme. I would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, especially Julie Hughes, Suzanne Holman, and Kelli Hansen, for bringing their talent and skills to program. And finally, my enormous gratitude goes to the librarians in public and school libraries who are partners with the Texas State Library in providing Texas Teens Read! to teens throughout Texas.

Christine McNew, editor

2008

Christine McNew is the Youth Services Consultant for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the Manager of Texas Teens Read!

1 Americans for Libraries Council. Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public and Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century prepared by Public Agenda. Conducted and funded with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.