Declaring December 14, 2001 Read for 2002 "United We Read" Day in Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Read For 2002 is Scholastic Book Club’s third annual reading campaign encouraging children all over the world to stop and read for 2002 seconds (about 33 1/3 minutes) on Friday, December 14, 2001 at 12 noon; and

WHEREAS, School age children in Philadelphia classrooms are being urged to join classrooms around the world as they observe Read for 2002 by holding read-alouds, reading individually, dressing as favorite book characters, acting out skits, sharing their best-loved books, and other reading-focused activities; and

WHEREAS, Over 100 million teachers and students are expected to participate, on December 14th, in this worldwide event. Last year elementary students in Pennsylvania created advertisements for their Read for 2001 books. Each poster had an illustration of the book, along with descriptive words explaining what made the book so special; and

WHEREAS, Twenty-five Governor’s spouses, including Kathy Schweiker, First Lady of Pennsylvania, have signed the Read for 2002: Declaration of Literacy — a pledge to support the event and literacy in their states; and

WHEREAS, Students and teachers from across the country and around the world are connecting and sharing their favorite books through Scholastic’s web site; and

WHEREAS, Through the Web site, students, and teachers are also sharing Read for 2002 with an array of heroes and celebrities. A special section is devoted to the favorite book picks and reading messages of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and rescue workers who set exemplary examples of bravery and caring during the September 11th terrorists attacks and their aftermath; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby declare December 14, 2001 Read For 2002 “United We Read” Day. We commend the participants and applaud their efforts to both raise the international awareness of the importance of reading and to eradicate obstacles that impede any child’s ability to fully enjoy the benefits derived from this fundamental right.

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