James Patterson is Donating Another $1.75 Million to U.S. School Libraries
From Scholastic:
James Patterson will personally donate another $1.75 million to school libraries this year, in the second installment of his School Library Campaign.
In partnership with Scholastic Reading Club, the program was launched in 2015 as part of an ongoing effort to keep books and reading a priority for children in the United States. Scholastic Reading Club will administer funding applications to their network of 62,000 schools and 800,000 teachers and will match each dollar with “Bonus Points,” which teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms, at every school that receives an award.
Applications to nominate a school library for a donation must be submitted by May 31, 2016, and can be found here: www.scholastic.com/pattersonpartnership.
Last year Patterson pledged $1.75 million in grants to school libraries. Of the nearly 28,000 entries received, 467 schools were awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. School libraries across the country used this funding to purchase new books, add bookshelves, make improvements to their catalog systems, and expand their programing. With this second round of donations, Patterson and Scholastic hope to give even more children in America access to books and a functioning school library. Patterson believes that enhancements to school libraries will not only help to foster a love of reading, but will boost academic achievement overall.
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The 2016 program will launch with $1.75 million in grants that will be awarded on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Anyone can nominate a school library; donations will range from $1,000 to $10,000 per school. James Patterson and Scholastic Reading Club will accept nominations of all types: for repairs to a computer system, for example, or for a school project focused on books and reading. Patterson hopes that teachers and students will share their experiences in their communities using #pattersonpledge. All funds are being personally donated by James Patterson.
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Filed under: Awards, Funding, Libraries, News, Scholastic, School Libraries

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.