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Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative |
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From Education Newsfeed: --- Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, First Book Senior Vice President Lynda Lancaster and Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard today highlighted the importance of reading and presented free books to students at Belle Chasse Primary School in Plaquemines Parish, Belle Chasse, La. The donation included some of the 250,000 free books, provided by First Book through the Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative, which is designed to help replenish reading materials in schools, community libraries and homes in hurricane-affected communities in the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and Florida. It's a survival skill," Secretary Spellings said. "A child who can read is a child who can learn. The books being donated today through First Book's Book Relief program will ensure that students along the Gulf Coast have the opportunity to read during the summer and have books in their schools when they return in the fall." Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, said, "Research has shown that maintaining good reading habits during the summer months will significantly affect a child's performance as a reader. The initiative is part of First Book's Book Relief program, an unprecedented, publishing industry-wide effort to distribute five million new books to those affected by the 2005 hurricanes via organizations, schools and libraries. The program will help support the evacuees and replenish books in schools and libraries being rebuilt on the Gulf Coast. Two more book donation events will be held, one in Texas on Friday, June 16, and one in Mississippi on Monday, June 19.
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