Gulfport, Miss. -- The U.S. Education Department's Anne Hancock and First Book Senior Advisor Kit Lunney today presented free books to Gulfport students as part of a Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative. In all, 250,000 volumes will be donated through a special public-private effort to schools, community libraries and homes in hurricane-affected communities across the Gulf Coast.

In a ceremony held at the Forest Heights Boys and Girls Club, located at the North Gulfport 7th and 8th Grade School in Gulfport, Hancock, Lunney and others stressed the importance of student reading -- especially summer reading -- and hailed the project to restore book supplies in the Gulf region.

The Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Education and First Book, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.

"In today's world, reading is more than a pastime. It's a survival skill," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "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 an element of First Book's Book Relief program to distribute five 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 Education 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: http://www.bookrelief.org/

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