By Fritz Edelstein
November 21, 2005

Mayors from five cities are going to participate December 2 in the seventh annual Scholastic Read for 2006. To promote reading and engage more communities in helping get kids to read, The United States Conference of Mayors and Scholastic has enlisted Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, Tucson Mayor Robert E. Walkup, and Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell to participate and lead celebrations of reading in their cities. Each mayor will host reading events at schools or libraries in their respective city to build awareness and excitement about the importance and joy of reading on this day and throughout the year.

Read for 2006 is a read-a-thon that encourages children, parents, and classrooms to set aside time on this one day to read for at least 2,006 seconds (approximately 33 1/2 minutes), to celebrate reading. In each city, the mayor will participate in reading to children.

Classrooms around the world will participate in this global reading campaign to help get kids to read. Since its inception, the initiative has united millions of children, parents, and teachers in each of the 50 U.S. states and 37 countries, connecting children across cultures and continents from Los Angeles to Ankara and Philadelphia to Shanghai.

To learn more about Scholastic Read For 2006 visit the website www.scholastic.com/readfor2006