Ferguson Library Celebrates Teen Read Week

This Friday, Stamford teens will gather to support the library, spend time with friends, and enjoy some reading after-hours at the .

It’s part of Teen Read Week, held the third week in October each year by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. Libraries across the US will be marking the week with a variety of programs and activities to encourage teens to open a book outside of the classroom and outside of homework assignments.

In the past, has held assemblies at area schools, but budget cuts have made it tough to spare the staff members. Instead, Ferguson Library is using the occasion to hold their second Teen Read In.

“We’re really hoping people will come out — it should be a great way to meet people, be with friends, get some reading done, and support the library,” Steve Zampino, teen librarian at Ferguson Library, said.

Registration is available at the libraries and also on the library’s website. All teens who attend the Read In will receive a nylon backpack. Most importantly, they’ll enjoy a night of reading with friends.

“Teens have to do a lot of reading for school. This is why the tagline for Teen Read Week is “Read for the Fun of it” — it’s about getting teens into recreational reading, reading things they want to read and developing that lifelong hobby,” Barbara Klipper, youth services librarian at Ferguson Library, said.

Klipper also had advice for parents of teenagers who want to raise children who with that love of books. First, she recommends parents to model reading habits — visit the library, have books in the home, and let their children see them reading for pleasure.

“I’d encourage them not to be judgmental of what their kids read. Some parents look at their choices and say, “Don’t you want to read the classics?” It’s sometimes a double standard — parents can read a crime thriller, but they don’t want their kids reading "Gossip Girl,"" Klipper said. “We need reading that’s relaxing.”

“They have so much going on, it’s easy to forget to read for fun,” Zampino echoed.

, held last spring, raised over $2,100 in donations for the Ferguson Library. Spearheaded by T-MAD, , the success of the Read Ins is the result of the group of teens who contribute their time to helping plan events for teenagers at the Ferguson Library.

“They tend to be thoughtful, enthusiastic, they have a lot of things they care about in their lives and they care about the library,” Zampino said.