James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.com To Give Away $2,500 To Library That Best Gets Kids Reading

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Bestselling author James Patterson's website dedicated to making kids readers for life, ReadKiddoRead.com, is teaming up with EarlyWord.com and Asset-Based Thinking for Teens (ABT) to offer a contest to reward the library that best works to get kids excited about books and reading. The site is offering $2,500 to the librarian with the best idea for a new and inspired reading program plan.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091105/NY05752 )

"Librarians are not a luxury," says Patterson. "They are a necessity. This contest will do a little bit of good, but for the long run, we've got to recognize that our children won't be given any real education without a librarian in their lives."

Many budget cuts across the country's schools have downsized or even completely eliminated school libraries. This contest aims to initiate awareness and ultimately begin to counter the disconcerting trend.

To enter the contest, email your name, address, the name of your library and your job title, and the name of your desired program to [email protected]. Include an outline of your plans for a program to instill a passion for reading in the young people in your community, to run any time between February 1 and May 30, 2010. Be as specific as possible about your plans. Include the number of kids you expect to reach and which other community organizations, if any, you plan to work with. (Note: this can be a program you are already planning.)

Submit your plan by Friday, January 15th, 2010, and a panel of judges will select the top ten best ideas, based on creativity and feasibility. Each of the top ten will receive a Kodak Vid Camera to document their plans and submit them by May 30, 2010.

One grand winner will be selected from the top ten to win $2,500 for their library, as well as a free ABT Teen Seminar. The winner will be announced on June 15, 2010.

Patterson encourages everyone to pass along the contest to their local librarian.

For more information, visit http://www.earlyword.com/mighty-causeread-kiddo-read-teen-program/ or send an email to [email protected].

About James Patterson

Since his first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar Award in 1976, James Patterson's books have sold more than 170 million copies worldwide. His Alex Cross series, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, is the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years. He began writing books for all ages when his son, Jack, didn't exactly love reading, and he took it upon himself to fix the situation if he could. The Maximum Ride and Daniel X series for younger readers have spent more than 200 weeks on national bestseller lists, and a new series entitled Witch & Wizard will be released in December of this year. All three series are in Hollywood development. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

About ReadKiddoRead.com

James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.com is a web site designed to help parents, teachers, and librarians ignite the next generation's passion for reading by recommended books carefully chosen for their ability to get kids excited about reading. Complete with age designations, thoughtful book descriptions, author and celebrity interviews (Jeff Kinney, Rick Riordan, Julie Andrews, Lemony Snicket, and more), links to online retailers and more, ReadKiddoRead.com helps make finding a book for a young person easy and, ultimately, rewarding.

About ABT for Teens

ABT for Teens encourages and helps enable youth to find their "Mighty Cause," their passionate beliefs and values that are important to them and to the wider world. Change The Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking - For TEENS, an interactive book by and for teens, was published in March of 2009. Parenthood.com calls it "an inspiring and motivating book that can help many visual learning adolescents, and even audio adolescents, live an all around happier life."

SOURCE James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.com