This year's Indigenous Literacy Day campaign will be officially launched by patron Therese Rein at an event in Sydney today.

The 2008 Indigenous Literacy Day, run by the Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) in conjunction with the Fred Hollows Foundation, will take place on Wednesday 3 September. It follows on from the success of last year's inaugural Indigenous Literacy Day, which raised almost $250,000 to assist literacy projects in remote Indigenous communities. These funds were raised by publishers and booksellers donating a percentage of their earnings on the day, as well as through additional donations.

The funds raised from the 2008 event will provide continued assistance for five communities in the Jawoyn area of the Northern Territory, as well as to communities in western New South Wales and possibly in Western Australia and Queensland.

As a patron, Rein will be ‘working to inspire children, Australian families and business to get involved in the project,' project officer Karen Williams told WBN. WBN understands there are plans for Rein to visit some of the Indigenous communities involved in the project.

Today's launch will also include the announcement of the project's ambassadors including Anita Heiss, Alexis Wright, Andy Griffiths, Tara June Winch, David Malouf and Geraldine Brooks.

The Indigenous Literacy Project has grown out of the Australian Readers' Challenge, which involved school children raising money through a reading challenge. This year, the reading aspect of the project returns with the launch of the Readers Quest (see www.readersquest.org.au). Schools involved in the quest go into the draw to win a visit from ambassador Andy Griffiths.

‘We are thrilled and honoured that Therese Rein has agreed to be Patron and we are delighted to welcome our ambassadors,' ILP chair David Gaunt told WBN. ‘We are delighted with the early and increasing support from both large and small publishers and booksellers--over 200 booksellers and publishers have joined to date--and we're working hard to make sure that everybody in the industry hears about the project and has the opportunity of joining this inspiring industry project.

For more information on how to become involved in this year's event visit www.worldwithoutbooks.org.

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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