New York, NY (September 25, 2002) -- Scholastic Book Clubs, a division of Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, announced today that it will donate up to 1 million new books to children in need through ClassroomsCare, the 2nd annual philanthropy-based literacy campaign designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving. For each class that reads 100 books by Friday, December 6, 2002, Scholastic Book Clubs will donate 100 new books to one of its four charity partners, Save the Children, First Book, "Hello Friend" Ennis William Cosby Foundation or Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) - up to a total donation of 1 million books. Each organization will put the books into the hands of children in extremely under-resourced schools and communities in the United States.
 
ClassroomsCare furthers Scholastic's mission of fostering a love of reading among children, and culminates on the date of Scholastic Book Clubs' fourth annual worldwide reading celebration on December 6th, Read for 2003, when millions of kids, parents and teachers stop at 12 noon in their time zones to read together for 2003 seconds (approximately 33 1/3 minutes) and share the magic of great books.
 
"Last year, more than 50,000 classrooms enthusiastically embraced the challenge of ClassroomsCare, and we quickly met our goal of putting 1 million new books into the hands of children who need them. We were thrilled by the positive response to the campaign, and the notes from teachers and kids urging us to make it an annual event," said Judy Newman, Senior Vice President of Scholastic Book Clubs. "Through ClassroomsCare, we can inspire children to read, help them to understand the importance of giving to others less fortunate than themselves, and create a link between them and other children through which they can share their love of reading and books."
 
Teachers along with their students can log onto www.scholastic.com/classroomscare to learn more about the four charities. ClassroomsCare is open to all classrooms nationwide through Scholastic Book Club catalogues and the Scholastic web site. Each participating classroom will receive a "Certificate of Thanks" from Scholastic Book Clubs.
 
All four charities that will benefit from ClassroomsCare were specifically selected by Scholastic Book Clubs to ensure that teachers can use the opportunity to discuss the topics of giving and reading with their students.
 
Each organization will reach children in need in a different way. Save the Children helps children in need all over the world, and plans to focus its book distribution on "America's Forgotten Children," those in families living in America's poorest rural communities. First Book provides up to 4 million books to needy children through community outreach organizations nationwide, and will distribute a portion of its book allotment to children of members of the military, through a partnership with the Armed Services YMCA, an affiliate of the YMCA providing a variety of support services to military families. The Hello Friend Ennis William Cosby Foundation benefits public school teachers and students with learning differences. The organization plans to use the ClassroomsCare donation to create 100-book libraries that it will distribute to teachers in under-resourced classrooms across the country. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) sends books to more than 5 million "at risk" children through school systems nationwide.
Since 1948, Scholastic Book Clubs have provided top quality books and reading materials from all publishers to teachers for distribution in their classrooms. Today the eleven different book clubs provide one million U.S. teachers in more than 900,000 schools nationwide with high-quality, affordable books for children each month. Scholastic Book Clubs include Firefly Book Club® for pre-schoolers; Seesaw Book Club® for kindergarten and grade 1; Lucky Book Club® for grades 2-3; Arrow Book Club® for grades 4-6; and TAB Book Club for grades 7 and up.
 
About Scholastic Inc.
Scholastic Corporation (NMS: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.

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