Christmas book giving

It’s Christmastime, and that means giving. So, in the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas, here are some easy ways to give:

At the Teaching Authors blog, the six writers/teachers who contribute are offering to donate up to $225 to First Book with your help. For every comment submitted to the blog through Dec. 31, 2011, the writers will donate $1, up to $225. AND Disney Publishing will match every $1 donated with another book.

Every $2.50 donated to First Book provides a new book to a child in need. If Teaching Authors reaches 225 comments, for their $225 donation goal, their donation will mean 90 new books for children, plus 225 books from Disney Publishing, for a total of 315 books! A very worthy cause, so go to the Teaching Authors blog and comment. It’s that easy.

Schools are up for funding reauthorization and we want to make sure school libraries are included. ILoveLibrarians.org has posted great information about the federal action coming up and how you can help make sure that funding given to schools includes funds for school libraries.

Studies have shown that children who read have a higher chance of success as an adult, in all aspects of their life. But studies also show that having a library in a school, with good librarians, helps children reach higher academic achievements. So keeping libraries in schools helps our youth and our future. Go to ILoveLibrarians.org to see how you can help make sure the funding is there.

Finally, here’s a non-books-related way to give: Help Continental give 10 million miles to charities. Continental has listed a variety of charities, and you can go to the web page at 10MillionCharityMiles.com every day to vote for the one you think should get the most miles. The miles will be distributed proportionately to the amount of votes each charity receives.

Enjoy your giving and getting this Christmas!