Read it Forward @ the Library

The Birmingham Public Library will launch the 3rd annual Read It Forward project in September 2007. Read It Forward is a community-wide reading program designed to encourage teenagers to read. The concept is based on the book Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It is a story about an eighth grader who decides to change the world by doing a good deed for someone and then asks that person to “pay it forward” by doing the same for others.

This year’s Read It Forward selection starts off early with a bang, or rather, an eruption! The non-fiction book Bodies from the Ash by James M. Deem has been selected to be read in conjunction with the Birmingham Museum of Art’s exhibit Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption. Bodies from the Ash tells the story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the destruction and preservation of the Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum. The book includes lots of photographs that vividly tell the story of what happened to the residents of Pompeii during this historic event.

The Birmingham Public Library will host book discussions, a special visit from James M. Deem, the author of Bodies from the Ash, on November 5 and 6, 2007, and other events.

This community-wide reading program encourages teens to read. Participating is simple. Just:

• Visit any Birmingham Public Library location starting September 10 until November and pick up a free copy of Bodies from the Ash (while supplies last)
• Read the book
• Log on to http://www.bplcyberteen.org/, enter the book's tracking identification number, and leave a comment
• Pass the book forward for someone else to read
• Log on to the library's Website often to track your book as it travels from reader to reader and see what others have to say about the book

Read It Forward 2007 is sponsored in part by the Literacy Council, American Cast Iron Pipe Company, and the Rotary Club of Shades Mountain Sunrise Foundation.