February 13th was proclaimed First Book Appreciation Day in the City of North Miami, Florida!! Anna W. and I were in town to accept the proclamation and meet with local dignitaries.

Among the actions being recognized was the donating of thousands of books from the First Book National Book Bank and other Partner Promotion books to the North Miami Public Library for distribution to children throughout the city. Also, First Book books were inserted into all of the backpacks that were distributed to local school children during the Fall of 2006 Mayor’s Backpack Distribution program.

First Book couldn’t be successful without the help of Literacy Hero’s like Joyce Perincone, Library Director of the North Miami Public Library. In addition to distributing books to children in need in the North Miami area, Joyce works tirelessy to ensure the children of North Miami have fun educational experiences.

While First Book has a Campus Advisory Board serving the University of Miami (contact them at: umiami@firstbook.org), we would like to bring an additional long-lasting First Book presence to the Miami-Dade area by starting a community-based Local Advisory Board. If you are interested in learning more about how to start a First Book Advisory Board in the Miami-Dade area, please contact Anna at awilliamson@firstbook.org.