Wednesday, November 14, 2007

ED, First Book and Townsend Press Launch 2007 Adolescent Readers Initiative

ED, First Book and Townsend Press Launch 2007 Adolescent Readers Initiative: Margaret Spellings, secretary of Education; Lynda Lancaster, First Book senior vice president, Ben Alirez, Townsend Press author; and Robert Scott, Texas Commissioner of Education, 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. Spellings said, "The Nation's Report Card confirms what common sense already tells us: the more time students spend reading, the better they perform. 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." The 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. For more information on the donation campaign, visit: www.ed.gov/parents/academic/summer/reading/index.html

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