For Immediate Release: April 8, 2009

Hospitalized Teens at Children's Hospital Oakland Will Benefit From“OPERATION TEEN BOOK DROP”

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( Oakland, CA)— A nationwide campaign to put free books donated by book publishers into the hands of recuperating teen patients will benefit Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland thanks to the efforts of Oakland Public Library’s Teen Services Department.

Teen Outreach Librarian, Jodi Mitchell, contacted readergirlz and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), co-sponsors of the initiative along with Guys Lit Wire, and requested that Children’s Hospital Oakland be added to the list of recipients. As a result, Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland will be receiving 600 brand new teen books by April 16 th to coincide with “Support Teen Literature Day” and National Library Week.

The Oakland Public Library will be collaborating with Children’s Hospital Oakland and the Oakland Unified School District Hospital School Program to ensure that the new books get into the hands of patients and their families over the next few weeks.

“We were already working with Children’s Hospital Oakland and OUSD on efforts to provide reading materials to teen patients, so when Operation TBD came along, it seemed serendipitous,” commented librarian Jodi Mitchell. “Operation TBD encourages reading for pleasure and helps those hospitalized young people most in need of entertainment and inspiration.”

According to Wendy Bloom, RN, “We have some wonderful readers who have gone through all the titles in our collection. These new additions will be most welcome by our teen patients! We really appreciate the generosity of the publishers who donated.”

In its second year, Operation TBD will be distributing 8,000 young adult novels, audiobooks, and graphic novels donated by 18 publishers to pediatric hospitals across the nation. Children’s Hospital Oakland is the only northern California recipient.

Everyone who participates in Operation TBD is invited to celebrate at the TBD Post-Op Party on April 16 at 6 pm. Pacific Time on the readergirlz blog: http://readergirlz.blogspot.com. For more information about the local program, please contact Jodi Mitchell at (510) 238-7233.

Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is Northern California’s only freestanding and independent children’s hospital. Children’s is the leader in many pediatric specialties including neonatology, cardiology, neurosurgery and intensive care. The hospital is a designated Level 1 pediatric trauma center and has the largest pediatric critical care facility in the region.

About Oakland Public Library

Oakland Public Library, established in 1878, is the second oldest public library in the state serving the communities of Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont. The mission of the library is to “inform, inspire and delight our diverse community as a resource for information, knowledge, and artistic and literary expression, providing the best in traditional services, new technologies and innovative programs.” The library consists of a main library, fifteen branch libraries, the African American Museum & Library at Oakland, a tool lending library, and a roving bookmobile.

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