Demand Media Studios and First Book Bring Nearly 23,000 New Books to Kids in Need

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- First Book, the award-winning nonprofit that has provided more than 80 million books to children in need, partnered with Demand Media Studios and HarperCollins Children's Books to donate 22,650 brand new books to children in need this holiday season.

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"Our wonderful partners at Demand Media Studios and HarperCollins brought thousands of new books to kids who needed them most this holiday season," said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book. "We are grateful to continue our work with both of them to reach even more children who desperately need our help in 2011."

Demand Media Studios, the content-creation arm of Demand Media, invited writers and editors from its community of 13,000 freelancers to participate in its Write for a Cause program to increase childhood literacy. In its fourth Write for a Cause campaign, which ran from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15, Demand Media Studios donated one book to First Book for every eight articles that the writers and editors completed.

"Childhood literacy is an issue that both our community of freelance writers and editors and the team at Demand Media Studios feels strongly about," said Stewart Marlborough, general manager of Demand Media Studios. "In total, we donated over 60,000 books to children in need. That's a number that we're all truly proud of."

"HarperCollins is happy to be a longtime supporter of First Book and of its mission to provide books to children in need," said Diane Naughton, VP of Marketing, HarperCollins Children's Books. HarperCollins matched each book that Demand Media Studios donated to First Book in December.

About First Book

First Book provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 80 million free and low-cost books in thousands of communities. First Book has offices in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit us online or follow our latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

About Demand Media

Demand Media is a leading online media company that informs, entertains and connects millions of people every day. Through a portfolio of vertical web properties that reaches more than 90 million monthly visitors, a global network of digital partners, and a breakthrough content studio, Demand Media publishes what the world wants to know and share. Founded in 2006, Demand Media is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA with offices in Bellevue, WA, Austin, TX, New York, NY and London, UK. For more information visit: www.demandmedia.com

About HarperCollins Children's Books

HarperCollins Children's Books is one of the leading publishers of children's books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality, award-winning books for young readers, HarperCollins is home to many timeless treasures—Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, Goodnight Moon, Where the Sidewalk Ends, the Ramona series, Where the Wild Things Are; and popular new classics—The Graveyard Book, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Warriors, and Fancy Nancy. HarperCollins Children's Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the leading English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NCP, NCPDP). Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement, HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet consumer demand and generate additional business opportunities. Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia/New Zealand, and India. You can visit HarperCollins Children's Books at www.harpercollinschildrens.com and HarperCollins Publishers at www.harpercollins.com.

SOURCE First Book