The Reading Agency (TRA) is to launch a teen website next year to support its “Book Bars” scheme to create special areas in libraries for young people, reports the Bookseller. The site, for readers aged 13 and up, will include web 2.0 technologies including blogs, podcasts, tagging and webchats, and will cover a range of reading genres including manga, non-fiction and poetry.
Project manager Ruth Harrison said: “We have been talking to the public library community for some time about how we could replace the Boox Magazine we used to produce, and this is our reworked version of that.” The first Book Bars will be unveiled in the autumn, beginning with Bolton Library in August. “These will create a space for teenagers in libraries and will offer new ways for libraries to connect with young people,” said Harrison.