The Women’s National Book Association just announced the 2017 Pannell Award winners, given annually to two bookstores that enhance their communities by fostering a love of reading. The award is co-sponsored by Penguin Young Readers Group. The winner in the General Bookstore category is the Bookworm of Edwards in Edwards, Colo., in recognition of its Adopt-A-Reader program. In the Children’s Specialty Bookstore category, the winner is Children’s Book World in Los Angeles.
Adopt-A-Reader builds home libraries for ESL students
In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Bookworm of Edwards set out to build home libraries for low-income students learning English in Eagle County. With a rate of 42% free-and-reduced lunches in the local school district, there are thousands of kids who go without basic necessities in our resort community. Economic disparity motivated their staff to encourage their customers to become a part of something bigger. With the help of a local non-profit, the Literacy Project, the Bookworm of Edwards was able to match kids anonymously with customers. For less than $20 per month, Bookworm booksellers hand-select books to send to the kids in this program, based on their interests and age. By Christmas 2016 the program served 40 students. The Bookworm has a goal to match 100 kids with customers by the end of this year.
How winners are picked
This year’s 2017 Pannell Award winners were chosen by a committee of publishing professionals, including Susan Katz Radin, publisher emeritus at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Josalyn Moran, children’s publishing consultant; Emily Romero, senior v-p of marketing at Penguin Young Readers; Roger Sutton, editor-in-chief of the Horn Book; and Lisa Von Drasek, curator of Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota.
The winning stores will each receive a check for $1,000 and a work of original art from a children’s book illustrator. The awards will be presented at BookExpo’s Children’s Book and Author Breakfast.
Find out more about the Bookworm of Edwards Adopt-A-Reader program and enroll by going to http://www.bookwormofedwards.com/enroll-our-literary-concierge-service or by stopping by the store in Riverwalk (295 Main Street C101, Edwards, CO 81632)