Nation’s libraries participate in inaugural Reader’s Digest Make It Matter Day
Contact: Steve Zalusky
Manager of Communications
ALA Public Information Office
(312) 280-1546
NEWS
For Immediate Release,
September 29, 2009
CHICAGO – Libraries across the country will play an important role in celebrating the cause of reading during Make It Matter Day, sponsored by Reader’s Digest magazine.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, more than 100 events will be held on this national volunteer day of reading, writing and learning in support of literacy and education. Libraries will join schools, Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs in taking part in the inaugural event.
Events will include author read-alouds, storybook scavenger hunts, Pictionary and Scrabble tournaments, as well as creative writing, crossword puzzles, riddles, hangman and sentence work, all to support the love of reading and learning.
Libraries celebrating the kickoff event will include the Auburndale Library in Flushing, N.Y. The library will present Meet a Live Explorer @ Your Library: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo, featuring a local explorer who retraced Marco Polo’s route from Venice to China and back.
The Manhattan Village Kaplan Center in New York will hold an orientation for literacy volunteers with the organization New York Cares.
At the Pinecrest Branch Library in Miami, Fla., youth and families will take part interactive games of Scrabble to test spelling and vocabulary skills.
Also, the Doral Branch Library in Miami, Fla., will hold read-alouds for youth and families, as well as interactive literacy sessions using bilingual (English/Spanish) books.
In addition, Reader’s Digest is bringing Make It Matter Day to life by holding a celebration at the New York Public Library on Sunday, Oct. 4.
The American Library Association (ALA) has signed on as a sponsor of Make It Matter Day. “The ALA supports Reader’s Digest in its commitment to literacy and education, which matter to the librarians who help foster the literacy skills Americans need to participate fully in a global information society,” said ALA President Camila Alire.
ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries, which is providing promotional support to the Make It Matter Day initiative, is a public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand (
http://www.atyourlibrary.org/). The Campaign is made possible in part by ALA’s Library Champions.
Earlier this year, the editors at Reader’s Digest asked its community of 37 million Americans to identify the cause that mattered most to them. The pre-selected causes were hunger, literacy & education, environment, supporting military families, human rights, violence, rebuilding New Orleans, health & wellness, and children & youth. The winning cause was literacy and education. For more information go to
http://www.readersdigest.com/makeitmatterday.
“Literacy is at the core of our country’s success,” said Peggy Northrop, Editor-in-Chief of Reader’s Digest. “We are excited to be rallying people to support such an important cause and in the coming years we will focus on other causes that matter to our community.”
Through the website, Reader’s Digest offers a number of resources, including a literacy directory that highlights key literacy issues, a book-club resource that provides valuable advice on running a book club, reading resources, online book clubs, and reading group guides.
Reader’s Digest magazine, (
http://www.readersdigest.com), the world’s most widely read magazine, is published in 21 languages and reaches 70 million readers worldwide.
