Hi Everyone! After teen read week ends in October, what can you follow it with? National Runaway Prevention Month. There are great free resources from the National Runaway Safeline (NRS), who sponsors National Runaway Prevention Month. NRS offers promotional materials free of charge. NRS wants to canvas the country to ensure every youth knows how to connect to help and hope during a crisis. http://www.1800runaway.org/free-promotional-materials/ National Runaway Safeline also has a great toolkit of ideas to promote National Runaway Prevention Month here: https://www.1800runaway.org/runaway-prevention-month/ There is also a list of resources; books, movies, documentaries, and art projects here: http://www.1800runaway.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Storytelling-toolkit.p... " The National Runaway Switchboard estimates: -On any given night there are approximately 1.3 million homeless youth living unsupervised on the streets, in abandoned buildings, with friends or with strangers. -----Homeless youth are at a higher risk for physical abuse, sexual exploitation, mental health disabilities, substance abuse, and death. -It is estimated that 5,000 unaccompanied youth die each year as a result of assault, illness, or suicide.**" This is also a great opportunity to network with social service agencies and homeless prevention programs. We will are working with Off The Streets, a local shelter for youth experiencing homelessness and youth homelessness prevention services. They will host a table at our library to hand out youth homelessness prevention materials, make stress balls and distribute stress relieving coloring sheets. This will be our first year working together on this, and we hope it will get better every year! Let me know what works for you and I will compile a list and share it with the group! PS Ellen Hopkins Traffick comes out Nov. 3 and would tie in well. Mary Jo Vortkamp Children's Librarian - Franklin Branch of the Detroit Public Library