Teen Read Week is from October 18-24, but we think it's so important that we observe it for the whole month! This year's theme is "Read Beyond Reality." Teen Read Week encourages teens to read for the fun of it, and to celebrate, we're having great contests and activities:

Guess how many Starburst are in the jar. The teen with the closest guess will win all of the candy and a $10 gift card to Bruster’s Ice Cream!

This year, we're also participating in the 2009-2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge! The Challenge begins October 18th and ends January 19, 2010. Here's how to do it:

• Sign up and receive a reading log.
• Read 10 items to complete a reading log.
• Turn in completed reading log and receive a form to design a bookmark.
• Turn in bookmark design!

Two bookmark designs will be chosen as the winners: one from a teen in grades 7-8 and one from a teen in grades 9-12. The winning entries will be sent to Chicago to compete against winning entries from across the country. Fourteen regional grand prize winners will be selected and they will receive $2000 for their library and a trip to Phoenix to see WrestleMania 26. They will also get to compete to be the WrestleMania Reading Challenge World Champion. For official rules, ask a library staff member.

This is our fifth annual Design a Bookmark contest for Teen Read Week. The winning entry will be professionally printed and distributed at all Spartanburg County Public Libraries as well as the winner’s school library!

• The contest is open to teens ages 12-18 or in grades 7-12. To be eligible to win, participating teens, or someone living at the teen’s permanent residence, must be a full-privilege Spartanburg County Public Library cardholder.
• Design may be full color but must be 2” x 6” and include the 2009 Teen Read Week theme “Read Beyond Reality.” Digital entries must be 300 dpi and saved as a .jpg, .pdf, .tiff, or .eps.
• Entries must be accompanied by the artist’s name, address, phone #, age and grade in school and turned in to any Spartanburg County Public Library location or emailed as an attachment to teens@infodepot.org by October 31st.
• Entries will be judged by library staff based on originality, use of theme and design. The teen who submits the winning design will win a $75 Visa gift card! Contest ends October 31st. The winner will be announced in November.

A fake book will be hidden in the teen fiction section at every branch with the 2009 Teen Read Week logo on its spine. Find the book and follow the instructions inside, then come to the desk for an entry form. Fill it out correctly to be entered into a drawing for a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

For more information about any of these contests, email teens@infodepot.org. And don't forget to read!