Indigo Launches Annual Adopt a School Program to Replenish 1,000 School Libraries

- Goal to Give Tens of Thousands of Canadian Kids New Books -

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - From September 16^th to October 6^th, Indigo, Chapters and Coles stores from Victoria to St. John's and all points in between, will challenge Canadians to put new books at the top of this country's back to school list. The annual Indigo Adopt a School fundraising drive aims to bring communities together and return 1,000 school libraries to being the vibrant heart of schools with the addition of much needed new books. Since 2009, the fundraiser has put more than 80,000 books into the hands of children at 459 schools across the country. This year, booklovers from coast to coast are encouraged to more than double the number of schools served through the Adopt a School program to date.

Change for a New Chapter
Although 'back to school' should mean back to books, many school libraries operate with a budget that allows for only a third of a book per student every year. Teachers across the country spend approximately $1,000 of their own money each year to buy books and learning materials for their students in an effort to bridge the gap. Dedicated to changing children's lives one book at a time, Indigo's Adopt a School fundraising drive makes it easy for booklovers to write a new chapter at school libraries across the country. Visit adoptaschool.indigo.ca to:

1. Support a local school or register one
2. Donate online
3. Buy an Indigo e-gift card - Indigo will donate a book to your selected school for every e-gift card sold.

Schools also have the opportunity to win a $5,000 library makeover through this year's fundraiser too. For more details, and to put books into the hands of thousands of kids heading back to school this year, please visit http://adoptaschool.indigo.ca/

About Indigo Books & Music Inc.

With books always at our heart and soul at Indigo we are about telling stories and creating experiences. Indigo is Canada's largest purveyor of ideas and inspiration to enrich your life, with books, specialty toys, gifts and lifestyle enhancing products that affordably offer intrinsic quality, beauty and timeless design. Indigo is a publicly traded Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (IDG). As the largest book and specialty retailer in Canada, Indigo operates in all provinces under different banners including Indigo Books & Music; Indigo Books, Gifts, Kids; IndigoSpirit, Chapters, The World's Biggest Bookstore, and Coles. The online channel, www.indigo.ca, features books, eBooks, toys, music and DVDs, and hosts the award winning Indigo Online Community.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public schools, their libraries and the resulting literacy crisis.  Every year the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation commits $1.5 million to high-needs elementary schools so they can rebuild their libraries with the purchase of new books and education resources.  The annual Adopt a School program brings Canadian communities together to raise additional funds putting thousands more books into the hands of children at hundreds more elementary schools annually. To date the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has committed more than $13 million to more than 500 schools nationally. 

     

SOURCE: Indigo Books & Music Inc.

Lisa Huie
Indigo Books & Music Inc.
416-646-8926

Valerie Mendonca 
MSL Canada
416-847-1341