Audiobooks are excellent tools to help students build literacy skills as well as improve listening, writing, and vocabulary competencies. In many shared or independent reading situations, audiobooks offer support to reluctant and struggling readers, special-needs students, and English-language learners. They are also embraced by voracious readers.…

Suggests ideas for planning and conducting public library creative writing workshops for children in grades 4-8. Themes, promotion, and activities are discussed. Three references are listed. (MES)

This bibliographic essay cites fiction titles for adolescents in grades seven through 12 on a wide range of subjects and reading levels. Suggestions for preparing booktalks to promote current books, introductions and summaries to be used for particular titles, and the effectiveness of booktalks are highlighted. (EJS)

One public library's storytelling program for fourth through eighth graders and their grandparents has preserved grandparents' stories and fostered family communication. Storytelling was done one-on-one, with each child then writing and illustrating the story. Benefits included preservation of oral history and encouragement of storytelling,…

Describes the activities of and responses to a summer reading program for preschool and elementary school children offered by the Tulsa City-County Library System. Suggestions for developing and implementing such programs are offered, including planning guidelines, the design of print materials, and publicity strategies. (CLB)

Advocates the rights of early adolescents to (1) information they need on subjects such as AIDS, drugs, and reproduction; (2) information on topics they enjoy which may not be grounded in a school's curriculum; and (3) a sense of history. Seventeen recommended books are described in this context. (MES)

Summarizes current research on teaching children to love reading, and identifies techniques that can be used by parents, teachers and librarians to foster this attitude. The topics discussed include the value of reading aloud to children, selecting children's books, the different interests of boys and girls, and reading to develop values. (six…

Describes three literacy organization and public library programs: Project LEARN (Cleveland, Ohio), which encourages higher-level beginning adult readers to want to read on their own; Greenville County (South Carolina) Library's Latchkey Kids Program; and policies on unattended and disruptive children developed by Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (Iowa)…