NEWS

by Debi Staples

Publishers, NEA Join Forces to Address National Reading Crisis

The Association of American Publishers today announced a new partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts to help raise awareness and mobilize public action in the face of the startling decline in book readership, which the NEA documented in a report released in July. The report, "Reading at Risk", points to an ongoing and significant drop in the number of readers in this country, especially readers of fiction, poetry and drama.

AAP is providing a $19,000 grant to help cover the costs of reprinting the report and to facilitate a nationwide series of "Reading at Risk" presentations at which professional NEA staff members will discuss the study and its implications with groups of educators, policymakers, and scholars at meetings across the country. AAP will also work with the NEA on a second phase of the initiative, to encourage and assist cities across the U.S. in implementing "city reads" programs, and to develop a series of book-focused public service announcements to air on public and commercial radio and TV stations.

~ from Authorlink.com

Kids Trend Report Says Retro Toys, Crafts and Computer Games Top Holiday Wish Lists

Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, unveils the holiday edition of the "Scholastic Kids Trend Report," a guide to the most popular trends in holiday books, games and toys for kids up to 12 years old. Scholastic has its finger on the pulse of what kids want, through its book publishing, school book clubs, book fairs, and website, Scholastic.com. By interacting with almost every parent, child, and teacher in the country, Scholastic found that both hi-tech and low-tech toys are hot this year -- everything from downloadable video games to crafts are among kids' favorites ... even knitting!

~ from newstockwatch.com

The Things They Wrote A Veteran's Day Note

A year ago, the Op-Ed page marked Veterans Day by publishing excerpts from letters written home by soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq. At the time, fewer than 400 Americans had died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This year Veterans Day takes place during the battle for the Iraqi city of Falluja, where at least 11 Americans have been killed this week. Since the beginning of the war, the number of American dead in Iraq, according to the Pentagon, stands at 1,149. Thousands more have been wounded.

~ from nytimes.com

Iranian Sues US for Blocking Memoir Publishing

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, praised by President George W. Bush and honored at universities for her work on behalf of democracy and human rights, is suing the U.S. government for standing in the way of the publishing of her memoirs.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Casey agreed to add the lawsuit she filed in Manhattan last week to litigation brought in September by publishing groups that allege they have had to suspend writing projects for the same reason Ebadi is stalled.

Ebadi is a Muslim lawyer who was awarded the Nobel prize last year. Her lawsuit alleges the publication of her memoirs would be blocked in the United States by Treasury Department regulations preventing publishing activities that involve works by authors in countries such as Iran, Cuba, and Sudan.
~ from newsday.com