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November 11, 2007U.S. Department of Education, First Book and Townsend Press Launch 2007 Adolescent Readers Initiative |
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From Education Newsfeed: Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, First Book Senior Vice President Lynda Lancaster, Townsend Press author Ben Alirez, and Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott today announced the national distribution of free books as part of the 2007 Adolescent Readers Initiative. The initiative will provide 520,000 free, new books to improve the literacy skills of struggling adolescent readers in low-income schools and communities. During a visit to Webb Middle School in Austin, Texas, Secretary Spellings stressed the importance of reading to help students succeed in school and prepare for their future. "I'm proud of my department's partnership with First Book and hope that today's donation will inspire more students to read more often." First Book is a national, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work with existing community-based programs to distribute a steady stream of free, new books to children who, for economic reasons, have little or no access to books. The U.S. Department of Education and First Book will distribute the Townsend Press books to schools, libraries and community groups serving low-income, middle school and early adolescent-aged youth across the country. Since June 2006, the Department, First Book and major book publishers have collaborated to distribute over 1.65 million children's books to schools, libraries and literacy organizations serving low-income youth in hurricane-affected communities and across the country. Most of the 520,000 titles donated for this initiative are from Townsend's Bluford Series collection of thirteen young adult novels that focus on the lives of a group of young high school students and their families.
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