James Patterson to Donate $1.25 Million to School Libraries

Posted on March 9, 2015

James Patterson fulfilled his promise to donate $1 million in grants to independent bookstores in 2013 and 2014. Now he's out to help school libraries. Today he announced a new program with Scholastic.

He will donate $1.25 million to school libraries over the next year. Scholastic will match each dollar with bonus points for teachers at the schools which receive the grants. The teachers can use the points to get classroom materials and books.

Patterson feels very strongly that children must have access to books and that libraries are a crucial player in a child's education. He said in a statement, We're at a pivotal moment in our history. School libraries are shutting their doors left and right, despite the fact that it's more important than ever for a child to grow up with a school librarian." He says this is a crusade to get kids reading more books.

The grants will range from $1,000 to $10,000 per school. All schools in the U.S. that have students from pre-K through 12th grade are eligible to win one of the grants. You can learn more about the grants and nominate your school's library here.