The Year of Readers

There's a great idea over at The Year of Readers. Reading for charity, specifically you get people to sponsor your reading, and the money goes to a reading related charity. This sounds like a great idea to me, so I've signed up with them. Now I just need to pick my charity. I have some thoughts, but I'll want to write about it in more detail later. This is just a basic statement of intent.

Inspiring Readers

One person can make a huge difference in the lives of others. When it comes to fostering reading in children, a good librarian can make a huge difference. Queens librarian Sueli Zaqem is a good librarian. She inspired the kids in her summer reading program to read more than twice the number of books this summer as last summer, and donated her hair to Locks of Love. It's always nice to see a situation where everyone wins. The kids read more, and some sick kids will get to have hair. Also, the library gets some positive press in the news, which will hopefully encourage other parents to involve their children in their local libraries summer reading program.

Author/Humanitarian

I've never felt much interest in reading Nick Sparks' books, and I haven't seen the movie of The Notebook but this article about what he's done for local athletes in his hometown is really impressive. I always admire when people who are successful give back. Sure it's nice when they give money to charity, but when they give time too, the way Sparks has, it's much more special.