Belleville Library READ poster report by Leah Krotz

At the Belleville Public Library, we decided to create READ posters to promote our Teen Volunteer program and to encourage reading by teens and younger kids. We wanted our Teen Volunteers to be seen as "cool" role models for reading.

When we proposed the idea to our volunteers, they were enthusiastic. We invited each teen to choose either a favorite book or a favorite activity. If they chose an activity, the library director found a book that matched the chosen hobby. The library director took the pictures, staffing them with props the teens provided.

We had one teen choose a Stephen King book and we posed him in the library stacks. One plays the guitar, so we gave him a funky brick wall background and a book about rock music. One loves plants and gardens, so she was posed with a watering can and a gardening book, outside among flowers. The last teen is an avid horsewoman, so her picture was taken on horseback, reading a favorite horse book. We used a different color and font for the word "READ" on each poster, coordinating with the colors in the photo.

The Director created the posters and a printed small posters. She sent them to CKLS for printing in large size.

The posters were displayed in the Teen area of the library, and the teens got to take their large posters home at the end of the Summer Library Program. The teen volunteer program was publicized in the local newspapers, on the library Web site, and through the library's print and online newspapers.