James Patterson collaborates with Scholastic for £50,000 Big Book Giveaway

Bestselling author James Patterson is to donate £50,000 to help schools fund books for classrooms and libraries. In collaboration with Scholastic UK Book Clubs, Patterson’s Big Book Giveaway will make over £25,000 available to schools and teachers in both the autumn and spring terms of this school year.

100 schools will receive funds of £250 each term to spend on books via Scholastic’s Book Club. Scholastic will top up each £250 donation with 25% in extra ‘rewards’ to enhance the amount of free
books that schools are able to buy.

Both Patterson and Scholastic are committed to helping schools and teachers make reading for pleasure and access to books a priority. Analysis from school responses to Scholastic’s Reading Audit survey shows that although 87% of schools have a library, 77% have less than the recommended minimum number of books for their roll size and 88% of schools replace less than 10% of their book stock per
year.

The Scholastic network of Book Club teachers are invited to apply for one of the grants at www.scholastic.co.uk/jamespattersongiveaway and spread the word and their passion for school libraries amongst their colleagues using #bigbookgiveaway. Schools must register on the website and say why their school deserves the grant. Applications must be submitted by 31st October 2018 and winning recipients will be selected by Scholastic and James Patterson.

James said: “Libraries are at the heart of every school, and I’m thrilled to be partnering with Scholastic to continue to underscore both the need to sustain them, and the vital role that school libraries, librarians and teachers play in transforming lives and fostering a love for learning. I can’t underscore enough how important books and reading are to a child’s development – better readers make better people and ultimately better citizens.”

Catherine Bell, Scholastic Co Group MD said: “We know from our own research that over 83% of schools have reading on their School Improvement Programme but access to enough books to ensure children have choice remains a perennial problem. School libraries are such an important way of giving every child access to the best books to help them develop literacy skills and a love of reading for pleasure. We are delighted to be working with James and Penguin Random House to ensure that via Scholastic Book Clubs, James’ commitment to offering practical help to teachers will enable more schools to stock their libraries and build passionate readers across the UK.”