THOUSAND OAKS, CA – A Children’s Literacy Fair will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2009 to promote children’s literacy and increase the number of books available to children in local schools. This is the first time the event is being held. It is co-sponsored by Borders and Westlake Learning, and will run from 10am to 2pm at the Borders Thousand Oaks store, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.

Four local children’s book authors will be on hand doing book readings and signings. There will also be reading-related activities for children and free give-aways. Local schools in Simi Valley, Moorpark, and the Conejo Valley have been invited to provide a list of books they need for their libraries. During the event, Borders will offer the books for sale, coordinating the effort so duplicate book purchases are avoided and all schools receive an equal benefit from the event.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the community to come together to support our local schools by purchasing books to be donated,” said Stephen Fofanoff, one of the coordinators of the event. “It’s important for us to not only say that we should support our children’s education, but that we actually take the steps necessary to make it a reality. The more people who come out to support an event like this, the better it is for students in all of our schools. The kids will benefit for years to come because school libraries will have more resources to offer them.”

The authors who will be at the event are: Barbara Jean Hicks, Mary Ann Fraser, Carol Heyer, and Chris Warnock.

After the event, Westlake Learning will hand deliver the books that have been purchased to the local schools who participated in the event. Also, present at the event will be local community leaders, including Marta Jorgensen, congressional candidate from the 24th district.

“Education has to be our local community’s priority,” Jorgensen said. “We can’t wait for government or someone else to fix our schools, we have to be proactive at the local level because we don’t have time. Children are in school now. With the latest round of budget cuts, our schools are really suffering, and generally educational resources are the first thing to go. We can make up the difference when we come together as a community to support our schools when they need help the most.”