For immediate release | October 21, 2010

YALSA’s Going Mobile webinar offers easy, free ways to connect libraries, teens, and cell phones

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CHICAGO — Three-quarters of U.S. teens have cell phones — and you can easily use the devices to engage teens at your library at very little expense. Learn how to make your library cell-phone friendly in YALSA’s Nov. 18 webinar, Going Mobile: Teens, Libraries and Cell Phones, hosted by Jennifer Velasquez. The webinar will take place at 2 p.m. EST. Registration is now open at .

Participants in the webinar will learn how to:
  • Use a free text-messaging service to alert teens to library events
  • Host cell phone novel-writing programs or texting contests to engage teens in library services
  • Understand teen cell use and demographics, as more minority teens use cell phones to connect to the Internet
Velasquez , teen services coordinator of the San Antonio Public Library and a lecturer at the School of Library and Information Studies at the San Jose State University, will also explain how cell phones help diminish the digital divide and how integrating cell phones into library services is another method to reach teens in their own environment.
Webinars cost $39 for individual YALSA members and $49 for all other individuals. Registration is open at . YALSA also offers a group rate of $195, available by contacting Eve Gaus, YALSA’s program officer for continuing education, at egaus@ala.org or 1 (800) 545-2433, ext. 5293.
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to , or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.

Contact:

Stephanie Kuenn