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Beaumont, Texas — Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley and First Book Senior Vice President Chandler Arnold today highlighted the importance of reading and presented free books to students during a visit to the Theodore Johns Library in Beaumont, Texas. The donation included some of the 250,000 free books provided by First Book through the Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative. The initiative is designed to help replenish reading materials in schools, community libraries and homes in hurricane-affected communities in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and to keep children reading all summer long.

"In today's world, reading is more than a pastime. It's a survival skill," Secretary Spellings said. "A child who can read is a child who can learn. And a child who can learn is one who can succeed in school and in life. The books being donated today through First Book's Book Relief program will ensure that students along the Gulf Coast have the opportunity to read during the summer and have books in their schools when they return in the fall."

Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, said, "Research has shown that maintaining good reading habits during the summer months will significantly affect a child's performance as a reader. By helping provide new books this summer to children who have lost so much, First Book and the U.S. Department of Education will give them the opportunity to enhance their literacy skills, as well as provide them with a fun and necessary escape to whole new worlds."

The Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative is the result of a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Education and First Book. The initiative is part of First Book's Book Relief program to distribute 5 million new books via organizations, schools and libraries to children affected by the major hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. This effort is an unprecedented move within the publishing industry. The summer reading program will help support the evacuees and replenish books in schools and libraries being rebuilt on the Gulf Coast. Under the umbrella of Book Relief, and specifically in support of the Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative, First Book secured the donation of 250,000 books from a Massachusetts wholesaler and two publishing companies—Strictly-By-The Book Inc., Simon & Schuster Inc. and Townsend Press. The Department will handle the distribution of the 250,000 books throughout the five hurricane-affected states.

For more information on hurricane related support from the U.S. Department of Education, visit: www.hurricanehelpforschools.gov/030206-factsheet.html.

For more information on the Book Relief program visit: www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.1040731/k.85D2/
Book_Relief/apps/s/custom.asp.

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