This partnership will focus on making a year-round effort to increase local literacy rates by providing the tools needed in the classroom and at home.

Fort Mill, S.C. – Domtar Corporation is partnering with Classroom Central to provide and promote a literacy initiative funded by Domtar, and fulfilled through Classroom Central. According to a report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 39% of Charlotte area third graders were reading at grade level. Reading at grade level by the end of third grade is the single most important predictor of success. Studies show that 96% of children reading at grade level by the end of third grade will graduate high school.

To launch our partnership and to help foster a love for reading we are hosting a Truck of Books event on December 11th from 10am - 6pm at Classroom Central. This event provides 40,000 brand new books to teachers and students in the greater Charlotte area. The books donated for the event are part of Domtar’s relationship with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books to children in need.

The Powerful Pages partnership will help ensure that new books get into the hands of children in our area through various book events that include:

• Powerful Pages Truck of Books annual December event that delivers 40,000 new books to teachers and children in the greater Charlotte area.
• Powerful Pages Community Wide Book Drive held in January during National Book Month that will inform the community of the reading proficiency challenges we are facing in our local area, and seek to engage individuals, organizations and corporations in collecting new and gently used books for Classroom Central.
• Powerful Pages Book Section located in Classroom Central’s free store for teachers and stocked with books for various reading levels.

Domtar is the official literacy and paper sponsor of Classroom Central.

“Domtar has had a long-standing relationship with Classroom Central since its inception more than 17 years ago,” said Heather Stowe, corporate social responsibility manager. “This partnership formalizes and focuses our relationship in the area of children’s literacy which is one of Domtar’s central areas of giving. It also provides volunteer opportunities to our employees allowing them to give back to the community where they live, work and play,” said Stowe.

To learn more, visit www.domtar.com.