Tampa Bay Area Schools, Libraries, Nonprofits Reap Harvest of Books From the Verizon Season's Readings Program

TAMPA, Fla. - Schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations in the Tampa Bay region are reaping the results of a month-long drive by Verizon employees who collected 2,089 new and gently used books. The harvest of books is the result of Season's Readings, Verizon's third annual national book drive and reading campaign conducted at company sites in December.

Employees and their families in Florida also pledged 27,820 minutes (464 hours) to read to their children or others at local literacy centers, libraries, schools and other organizations throughout the coming year. Since the program began, the company's employees nationwide have collected and donated about 767,000 books and pledged more than 110,000 hours of reading time, including more than 578,000 books and about 43,000 hours during the recent campaign.

"Year after year, our employee participation in Season's Readings continues to be outstanding," said Alan Ciamporcero, president-public policy & external affairs, Southeast region, Verizon. "Their efforts reflect our commitment to be this country's literacy champion. The books our employees have collected and their pledges to read to children will make a real and lasting impact."

To promote the importance of reading to children, Verizon partnered with the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) to develop a list of tips for reading and a list of 15 children's books that are excellent for year-round reading. (NOTE: Information about NCFL's lists and tips is available at www.verizonreads.net).

Verizon also partnered with Scholastic Inc., the largest children's book publisher and distributor in the world. Verizon employees were able to purchase Scholastic's books for children at employee work locations and donate the books, as part of the reading campaign, to literacy organizations and schools.

Season's Readings is part of Verizon's overall commitment to leading the effort to increase literacy levels in the United States. Through its signature Verizon Reads program and the Verizon Literacy Network, the company works to increase community and corporate awareness, raise funds, encourage collaboration among literacy providers, and engage employees in supporting literacy programs. For more information on Verizon Reads, visit www.verizonreads.net.

Verizon Communications

A Fortune 20 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services, with approximately $68 billion in annual revenues. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon's international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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