NCLR & General Mills Partner @ Libromania.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Center for Community Educational Excellence (C2E2) and General Mills announce “Libromania” (book crazy), an initiative to meet the educational needs of Hispanic Americans across the country and to raise awareness about the importance of reading. Libromania is a series of four bilingual children’s books designed to encourage reading at home and in the classroom. As part of this effort, the General Mills Ethnic Marketing Group is donating 100,000 copies of the Libromania books to NCLR to be distributed to Hispanic children nationwide through NCLR’s education affiliates.

The stories and illustrations were developed by accomplished Hispanic authors and illustrators of children’s books in the U.S. and throughout Latin America and include games and recipes for families to enjoy together. The books are titled to reflect their main messages, which include Verses & Rhymes, Our Family, Once Upon a Time, and Celebrations and Traditions.

Academia Cesar Chavez Charter School, an NCLR affiliate, in Saint Paul, MN, will be the first of five sites selected to launch this reading and literacy initiative. General Mills will also present a $5,000 grant to the school to go toward their literacy program. Libromania initiative events will also take place at Amber Charter School in Harlem, New York; Escuela de las Americas Charter School in San Antonio, TX; Light House Charter School in Oakland, CA; and Redlands Christian Migrant Association in Immokalee, FL during January and February of 2003.