Free speech advocacy groups call on NY State legislators to act

Established in 1966, Washington, D.C.-based Reading Is Fundamental is the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization. In May, it capped its 35th anniversary with a "National Reading Celebration," which featured special events at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington during RIF’s annual Reading Is Fun Week, which ran from May 5-12.

Big crowds were moving through the trade show floor all day Saturday collecting galleys, autographs, and totebags.

Booksellers around the country have more reasons than ever to sign on to the 2002 Prescription for Reading marketing program. This year, Prescription for Reading is sponsored by a partnership of ABA, Book Sense, Chronicle Books, Baker & Taylor, and the Pizza Hut® BOOK IT!® Program. All of these partners have a strong interest in improving literacy and the general well-being of children.

Bookselling This Week is pleased to report that, after our Citywide Book Club list went online March 13, we received many e-mails from both libraries and booksellers detailing their own particular community book-reading efforts. Additionally, the Library of Congress (LOC), www.loc.gov/cfbook/, now has a listing of Citywide Book Clubs, and some community efforts were added or updated using information from LOC’s Web site. The result has seen the list expand from 45 different community-reading initiatives to 65.

It’s doubtful that either Nancy Pearl, executive director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library (WCB), or Chris Higashi, associate director for WCB, realized just how influential an idea they had conceived when they launched "If All of Seattle Reads the Same Book" in 1996. Today, over 50 cities, counties, or states have begun programs that encourage communities to read the same book at the same time and then to discuss it in numerous venues.

Now is the time for bookstores interested in participating in the 2002 Prescription for Reading marketing program to sign up and receive promotional kits, along with 200 copies of this year's book, Sylvia Long's Mother Goose, published by Chronicle Books.

For Get Caught Reading Month in May, Book Sense is supplying numerous ideas for booksellers. This month, expect the information about a "Community Wish List" program to help stores work with local groups in need of books.

The power of song can champion world problems in a manner that few mediums can match. Now, Deborah Pardes, a San Francisco singer/songwriter who in 2000 founded the San Francisco-based Songs Inspired by Literature (SIBL) Project, thinks music can help literacy programs -- especially if she gets a little help from her friends, independent booksellers.

The American Booksellers Association has announced a new partnership with the Pizza Hut® BOOK IT! ® Program and Chronicle Books in support of ABA's 2002 Prescription for Reading program. Prescription for Reading pairs independent booksellers with healthcare providers in an effort to remind parents and caregivers about the importance of reading to very young children.