Sudi Napalan, Saipan Southern High School’s librarian, said on Friday: “Today is a great achievement for the libraries throughout the CNMI. Today, [the administration] signed a proclamation that solidifies the CNMI libraries to work together in serving the important patrons, our teens. This proclamation should be a good start to nurture teen literacy in our libraries.”
She added, “Our teens throughout the CNMI are talented, full of energy and they are still very much in need of a place and people that will encourage them to keep reading. I ask each one of us these questions:
“Am I doing my best in helping the teens to read, to read for fun, and read for life?
“My second question would be: What am I doing to make sure it happens?
“Ask yourselves these questions and look in the eyes of our teens that are here today and everyone else that you’ll see in our community and finally ask yourself, ‘Am I doing enough?’ ”
She said two things stick out in the proclamation:
• The ability to read and process information is a basic survival skill in the global information society.
• Parents, teachers, librarians, and all concerned adults can serve as role models by reading for fun themselves.
“I hope that we will go back to our jobs and feel the need to help our teens. We all have the responsibility to help them to be successful. Let us provide them what they need — various materials to read, and support literacy programs in our school libraries and the public library,” Napalan said.
Donna Formalejo, a junior student, said: “It’s amazing that the Teen Read Week Proclamation actually happened. It was overall productive and fun day. Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos was very hospitable and considerate. I hope he keeps his word about the George W. Bush Library trip.”
According to another junior student, Kaelani Demapan, “Overall, I fell that Teen Read Week will be a success. I say that because it showed today with the Teen Read Week Proclamation. This Teen Read Week will be a success for ourselves and for all other teens out there. As Book Club members of Saipan Southern High, we showed others that we are dedicated and determined to make this a success and that the main reason is because we love to read and we want to promote reading to other teens.”
Saipan Southern High School Library would like to thank its generous sponsors: Rainbow Color, IT & E, Pacific Islands Club, Café @ the Park, Jill Arenovski, Rep. Tina Sablan, and Ryan Napalan.
