The most magical moments happen when you least expect it. I attended a Family Literacy Night last month at a local school in Phoenix. I was there to share information with the students and their parents about our Read 10, Get 1 Free Book Program and the Kids Club. Never did I imagine that I would meet one of the most enigmatic and engaging community partners! Ellen Dean is the Arizona Coordinator for BookPALS, an all-volunteer literacy program sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. Performing arts and trained community volunteers invest their time in disadvantaged schools and read to classes of children every single week. That small investment in time makes a huge impact on the lives of these children. At Bookmans we've been incredibly lucky to have several volunteers from BookPALS donate their time to bring Story Time to our Phoenix and Mesa stores!

This morning I had the privilege of attending an amazing assembly at Lehi Elementary School in Mesa. Bookmans, BookPALS, Fry's Food, and Reading Tree all worked together to provide free books to over 700 students at Lehi school who would otherwise not have a book to take home for the holidays.

Reading Tree places and maintains book collection bins in our communities. By collecting and redistributing used books, they are able to support literacy programs by providing fundamental books to students. Here in the valley these bins are currently homed in the parking lots of local Fry's Food Stores.

Bookmans donated to each student a book of their choice, a $5.00 coupon to use at our stores, along with a snack for attending the assembly! There isn't anything more satisfying than listening to 700 students share their excitement and love of reading with you! I hope that each and every child goes home today and reads their book with their family.

A big thank you to Ellen Dean for finding so much time to give back to our community and for being such an inspiration! Keep an eye out for pictures on our Flickr page. They are coming soon!