James Patterson Awards Holiday Bonuses to 87 Independent Booksellers

On Tuesday, December 15, bestselling author and literacy advocate James Patterson announced the names of 87 independent booksellers chosen by him to receive holiday bonuses totaling $250,000. Patterson launched the bonus program in October to thank booksellers for their dedication to spreading the joy of reading.

James Patterson

The holiday bonus program is part of $2 million in grants and bonuses that Patterson is giving to independent bookstore employees and school libraries this holiday season.

“These grants and bonuses are my humble acknowledgment of some of the terrific work taking place in libraries and bookstores,” Patterson said. “Here’s to communities supporting their bookstores and libraries. Here’s to a country that makes reading a priority. Here’s to flourishing libraries and booksellers, and to a joyful holiday season!”

ABA CEO Oren Teicher said, “Once again, we are enormously grateful for James Patterson’s wonderful generosity. Nobody puts their money where their mouth is more than Jim. Providing extra financial support to individuals who spend their entire day putting books into the hands of customers and spreading the joy of reading is an extraordinary gesture. Thank you!”

From 2,848 nominations received for the holiday bonus program, Patterson personally selected the booksellers who will receive bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. In 2014, Patterson awarded more than $1 million in grants to 178 independent bookstores committed to fostering a love of reading among children and young adults.

Earlier this year, Patterson pledged $1.75 million in grants to school libraries in partnership with Scholastic Reading Club, and today he announced 340 more school grant recipients, bringing the total to 467 school libraries that have received grants from $1,000 to $10,000. The full list is available at scholastic.com/pattersonpartnership.

“It continues to be inspiring and motivating to work with James Patterson to support school libraries across the country,” said Judy Newman, president of Scholastic Reading Club, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company. “Jim’s unwavering, unambiguous commitment to helping children lead better lives rich with books is transformative. Scholastic is thrilled to be working in such an effective partnership.”

Over the past decade, Patterson has also given more than a million books to students all over the U.S.

Patterson is funding his pro-reading initiatives, including the holiday bonus program, with all his proceeds from the sale of Jimmy Patterson Books, his new children’s book imprint.

The 2015 James Patterson Holiday Bonus Program recipients are:

• A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland, CA: Kathleen Caldwell
• A Room of One’s Own, Madison, WI: Gretchen Treu
• Anderson’s Bookshops, Naperville, IL: Larry Law
• Between the Covers, Harbor Springs, MI: Katie Capaldi
• Blue Door Books, Cedarhurst, NY: Sarajane Giddings
• Blue Marble Books, Ft. Thomas, KY: Dave Richardson
• Book Carnival, Orange, CA: Anne Saller
• Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA: Leslie Berkler
• Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA: Nick Setka
• Book Revue, Huntington, NY: Caitlin Burke
• BookPeople, Austin, TX: Julie Wernersbach
• Books on the Square, Providence, RI: Susan Schlesinger
• Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA: Stefanie Berntson
• Bookworks, Albuquerque, NM: Amanda Sutton
• Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI: Daniel Goldin
• Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO: Lu Ann Harris
• Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO: April Gosling
• Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX: Mark Haber
• Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA: Amy Brabenec
• Browseabout Books, Rehoboth Beach, DE: Susan Kehoe
• Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville, KY: Samantha Miller
• Chaucer’s Books, Santa Barbara, CA: Erin Fraser
• Children’s Book World, Los Angeles, CA: Cheryl Clark
• Compass Books (Books Inc.), San Francisco, CA: Jayne Wilson
• Copperfield’s, Petaluma, CA: Patty Norman
• Curious Iguana, Frederick, MD: Lauren Nopenz Fairley
• Diesel: A Bookstore, Larkspur, CA: Clare Doornbos
• Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC: Melissa Oates
• Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC: Johanna Albrecht
• Forever Books, St. Joseph, MI: Diana Koehler
• Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH: Brian Wallace
• Grass Roots Books & Music, Corvallis, OR: Charnee Rose
• Green Apple Books, San Francisco, CA: Stephen Sparks
• Green Bean Books, Portland, OR: Earl Dizon
• Harbor Books, Sag Harbor, NY: Brian Cudzilo
• Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA: Alex Meriwether
• Hugo Bookstores, Andover, MA: John Hugo
• Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH: Stephanie Porter
• King’s Books, Tacoma, WA: sweet pea Flaherty
• Kona Stories, Kailua Kona, HI: Joy Vogelgesang and Brenda McConnell
• Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO: Clifford Helm
• Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO: Jarek Steele
• Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA: Kimberly Jones
• Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA: Sunny Bowles
• Main Point Books, Bryn Mawr, PA: Anmiryam Budner
• McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, MI: Angelo Santini
• McNally Jackson, New York, NY: Kevin Cassem
• Mrs. Dalloway’s, Berkeley, CA: Anne Whaling
• Mystery to Me, Madison, WI: Joanne Berg
• Northshire Bookstore, Saratoga Springs, NY: Chris Linendoll
• Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck, NY: Lisa Wright
• Once Upon a Storybook, Tustin, CA: Tina Pomroy
• One More Page, Arlington, VA: Lelia Nebeker
• Orinda Books, Orinda, CA: Marian Nielsen
• Phoenix Books, Essex, VT: Colleen Shipman
• Politics & Prose, Washington, DC: Anton Bogomazov
• Powell’s Books, Portland, OR: Carol Easter
• Powell’s Books, Portland, OR: Kevin Sampsell
• Prairie Lights, Iowa City, IA: Paul Ingram
• Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC: Susan Alff
• R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT: Julie Arriens
• Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, MN: Susan Hepburn
• RoscoeBooks, Chicago, IL: Emily Heap
• Schuler Books, Okemos, MI: Whitney Spotts
• Schuler Books, Eastwood, MI: Rhoda Wolff
• Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA: Mary Williams
• Strand Books, New York, NY: Ben McFall
• Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO: Barrie McComas
• The Book Haven, Salida, CO: Rosemari Boddy
• The Book Table, Chicago, IL: Javier Ramirez
• The Bookies, Denver, CO: Jessica DeLoy
• The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA: Karen Maeda Allman
• The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, UT: Rachel Haisley
• The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale, AZ: Patrick Millikin
• Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA: Rich and Patti Harriman
• Three Lives & Co., New York, NY: Miriam Chotiner-Gardner
• Titcomb’s Bookshop, East Sandwich, MA: Elizabeth Merritt
• Unabridged Books, Chicago, IL: Ed Devereux
• Vero Beach Book Center, Vero Beach, FL: Debbie Sentance
• Village Books, Bellingham, WA: Joan Terselich
• Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA: Corie Hiroto
• Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, NH: Stef Kiper Schmidt
• Wellesley Books, Wellesley, MA: Pete Sampson
• Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, MN: Drew Sieplinga
• [words] Bookstore, Maplewood, NJ: Seamus Gourley