James Patterson and Scholastic announce winners of Big Book Giveaway

Author James Patterson and Scholastic UK Book Clubs, part of Scholastic UK, have announced the list of 100 schools which are the winners of this year’s Big Book Giveaway.

The schools, which include Little Plumstead C of E Primary School in Norwich and Mount Florida Primary School in Glasgow, will receive an equal share of the £25,000 Patterson has donated for book budgets. Scholastic will donate an additional 25% meaning each school will have £312 to spend on books in total.

A total of 3,220 schools applied, outlining why their school deserved the grant, and Patterson chose the winners with representatives from Scholastic and his publisher Penguin Random House.

“I was humbled to see the overwhelming response to our Big Book Giveaway and I’m grateful for the librarians who are working tirelessly to get books into the hands of their students,” he said. “These grants are my way of acknowledging their extraordinary efforts and I’m happy to be able to support their contributions in some way. I’ve made it my mission to underscore the vital role reading plays in children’s lives, and the need to sustain school libraries is at the heart of that mission.”

A list of all the 100 winning schools can be found on the Scholastic website.