Star Power

Philly's Free Library has created a teen program that would make Oprah envious

By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2005

Not many kids expect to find Jerry Spinelli, Alice Walker, or Chris Crutcher waiting to talk to them about their works. But that's exactly what teens in the Free Library of Philadelphia's star-powered reading program have come to expect.

The Field Family Teen Author Series has connected kids to a Who's Who list of American writers, most recently David Macaulay, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tanya Maria Barrientos. What advice did they offer? Spinelli encouraged students to write what they care about. Walker spoke about finding one's place in the world. And Barrientos, whose novel Frontera Street was initially rejected by countless publishers, talked about the power of persistence. Other authors, such as astronaut Scott Carpenter, Holocaust survivor Bernard Gotfryd, and Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, gave kids a first-hand account of history. Basically, the authors discuss their most popular works, take questions, and sign books. But this is not a story about kids meeting famous people.

Since its inception in 2001, the program has been about attracting young adults to the public library, a place that many teens shun. Oksana Peysakh, a senior at Northeast High School, epitomizes the program's target audience. She had never been to the Free Library's Center City Branch until she attended a lecture by Tim O'Brien, who spoke about The Things They Carried, his celebrated collection of short stories. Peysakh, a 17-year-old who likes to write poetry, admits that she had never even been to downtown Center City, a cultural hub of Philadelphia. "I want to go to that library again, even though it's not in my neighborhood," she says. "I'll even go there if I'm not working on a school project. I guess I feel like it's my library, too."

That's music to Philly librarians' ears. According to librarian Hedra Packman, chief of the Free Library's office of public services support, individual branches see a spike in teen attendance around the time of the author visits. Moreover, the good news is that many of the same kids register for library cards and return for more.

The program has also taught librarians about what attracts teens. Sure, a good story can't be beat. As for the other pull, it has to do with adults, famous or not, who willingly make time for kids. Teens' letters about the program tell librarians so. "A striking feature of these letters is how often students express gratitude for being cared about," says library spokesperson Sue Rardin. In a letter to Oates, for example, a student wrote, "Thank you for taking the time to listen to our voice. Sometimes it seems like no one cares, but you showed you did."

The idea for the high-profile program surfaced four years ago when librarians at the Overbrook Park Branch, which serves a neighborhood with many at-risk children, thought local kids might show up if popular authors came to speak about their books, their lives, and the process of writing. The first sessions were a "dramatic" success, says Rardin, and teens "kept coming."

The program's sole sponsor, the Field family, a Pennsylvania clan with strong ties to Philly's library, came aboard in fall 2002, and the following year, the series was launched systemwide. The series now operates in partnership with more than 20 middle and high schools—public, charter, magnet, and diocese—in locations that run the gamut of socioeconomic levels. Although Andy Kahan, the Free Library's program director for author visits, declined to reveal the amount of the private donation, the funds cover an author's honorarium, transportation, and hotel, an amount that typically tops $1,000.

The funds also put free books into students' hands. "It's crucial that kids get to keep the books," says Packman. "We want them to begin their own library." In 2003, 1,635 students and 12 authors took part in the program. This academic year, 1,920 students and 16 authors are expected to participate.

Organizers—from librarians to administrators—choose titles, such as Spinelli's Stargirl, that will interest kids. Kahan then pitches the program to book publicists: "We will buy 120 to 400 books, and I point out that the authors will reach a whole new audience."

The Free Library's go-to man, program coordinator and aspiring librarian Drew Birden, visits schools that are interested in participating in the program. His opening salvo to students? "How many of you have read a book and met the author? That's going to change." Birden tries matching a respective title with the right school. For example, students at Edison High School/John C. Fareira Skills Center read O'Brien's Vietnam–inspired work, because the city's largest multiracial school holds the sad distinction of being the high school with the most deaths in Vietnam among its alumni. The program doesn't target honors students—quite the opposite, says Packman. "Our top students in Philadelphia schools get lots of opportunities that the average kid doesn't," she notes.

Some authors tell teens that being a writer is not a pipe dream. "Writers become real people to them," says Dina Portnoy, an English teacher at Northeast High. She's seen authors instruct her students on where inspiration comes from, first-person narrative, and the sometimes blurry line between fiction and nonfiction. "[O'Brien's] life experiences brought him to that book," observes Portnoy's student Peysakh, referring to The Things They Carried. Classmate Michael Murphy concurs. "All of his stories have a truth to them," says Murphy, who aspires to be a writer or teacher. He was surprised to find O'Brien to be a "down-to-earth guy." What stayed with him? The author's advice that writing stories can make life better.

The series "is a great way to share a love of reading with those who love to read," Kahan sums up, "and with those who don't know they love to read." Birden knows it won't be easy to snag all the authors on his wish list. (Paging Maya Angelou.) But that's OK: the program is well worth the risk of rejection. "I hope librarians out there get inspired to start a similar program," he says. "After all, teens need as many allies as they can get."