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Austin, Texas—U.S. 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. More than 20,000 of these books will be available for Austin-area schools, libraries and community organizations.

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. "The Nation's Report Card confirms what common sense already tells us: the more time students spend reading, the better they perform," said Secretary Spellings. "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."

"By providing age-appropriate books to students in low-income communities, First Book feeds the imagination of adolescent learners, inspiring them to develop lifelong literacy skills," said Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book. "We are grateful to the Department of Education and Townsend Press for their commitment to this initiative, which is making a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of students across the country who need our help."

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.

Townsend Press is an educational publisher of an acclaimed series of reading, vocabulary and writing textbooks for the school and college markets. They also publish, through a nonprofit foundation, an affordable library of original and classic paperbacks. 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. Set in contemporary urban America, each novel addresses complex topics relevant to the lives of today's students: family, friendship, trust, isolation, violence and peer pressure.

"Nothing turns students on to reading more than to be offered books they will want to read and that speak to their lives and worlds," said Townsend Press President John Langan. "Our Bluford series has struck a nerve with almost three million young people across the country, and Townsend Press is pleased to partner with the Department of Education and First Book in getting the Bluford stories into the hands of Austin students."

For more information on the U.S. Department of Education and First Book's book donation campaign, visit: www.ed.gov/parents/academic/summer/reading/index.html

For more information on First Book, visit: www.firstbook.org

For more information on Townsend Press, visit: www.townsendpress.com

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