October 31, 2011 Young Readers Center Hosts Anniversary Event for Reading Is Fundamental

WHAT:
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a partner of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, will hold its 45th anniversary celebration in the Young Readers Center.

WHO:
Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole
Reading Is Fundamental President and CEO Carol H. Rasco

WHEN:
Thursday, Nov. 3, 1:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. S.E.
Room LJ G29 (ground floor)

BACKGROUND
Reading Is Fundamental is among the more than 80 reading-promotion partners (www.Read.gov/cfb/partners.php) of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The event will feature Kevin Henkes’ beloved children’s book “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” in a special performance by Adventure Theatre. Attendees will include 40 second-grade students from Maury Elementary School in Washington, D.C. RIF will announce a donation of 70 multicultural book collections to 35 District of Columbia public schools through an endowment given by Margaret McNamara Pastor, the daughter of RIF’s founder.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s www.Read.gov website and administers the Library’s Young Readers Center.