Donate a book on Teen Lit Day

CHICAGO � Teen patients in pediatric hospitals across the United States and Canada will receive 10,000 young adult novels, audiobooks and graphic novels, as readergirlz and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) celebrate the second annual Support Teen Literature Day on April 17. Support Teen Literature Day is part of National Library Week, celebrated April 13 - 19, 2008.

This unprecedented teen literacy program, coined �Operation TBD� (short for Teen Book Drop), will put free books-altogether valued at more than $175,000-donated by 20 book publishers into the hands of teens in need of solace, entertainment and a sense of personal accomplishment.

Operation TBD also aims to encourage teens to choose reading for pleasure as a leisure activity in honor of Support Teen Literature Day. Young adults now have many options for entertainment and choose reading less often.

To help encourage the broader teen community to participate in Operation TBD in its drive to spur reading on a national scale, teens and YA authors are encouraged to leave a book in a public place on April 17. When visiting www.readergirlz.com, participants can download bookplates to insert into the books they�ll leave behind, which explain the surprise to the recipient and tell them to read and enjoy.

For more information on Support Teen Literature day and Operation TBD visit www.ala.org/yalsa.