BARNES & NOBLE, GIVING THE GIFT OF LITERACY
January 19th 2010
OLYMPIA (January 18, 2010) –Barnes and Noble collected nearly 2600 books during its 6th Holiday Book Drive in support of South Sound Reading Foundation. “We are so fortunate to have such a great community partner in our region and to have had so many people support the drive. It is truly amazing!” says South Sound Reading Foundation Director, Jennifer Forster. The donated books go to the South Sound Reading Foundation’s Literacy Outreach for At Risk Youth program which gets books into the hands of at-risk kids who need them most. In an effort to increase the number of children prepared to read and succeed, the South Sound Reading Foundation exists to ensure that every child is read with or is reading for at least 20 minutes each day. Reading just 20 minutes a day facilitates the healthy brain development, family bonding, and school readiness all children need to succeed. SSRF does this work with eight programs that educate and remind children, youth and families about the importance of reading daily; and by visits schools, low-income housing units, after-school programs, and community events to distribute books and promote the reading message. “Many of the children we serve do not have books of their own,” says Forster. “When you give a book to such a child, you are giving them the gift of literacy.”