AT&T to contribute $10K to literacy program

AUCKLAND, New Zealand AT&T announced a contribution of $10,000 to help Duffy Books in Homes USA support disadvantaged school students in the United States by providing them with free books.

The Duffy Books in Homes program was inspired and founded by Alan Duff, a New Zealand author who developed the idea that failures in adult life often result from a childhood spent in a bookless home, according to a company press release. The program has been further extended to the United States. After visiting New Zealand during the summer of 2005 as part of his doctoral studies through the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Richard E. Quest established the Books in Homes program in the United States in 2008.

"Research shows that one in seven children in the United States cannot read at their proper age level," said Dr. Quest, chief executive officer of Duffy Books in Homes USA. "Children reading at their proper level double their chances of graduating from high school. Thanks to the generous support from AT&T, we will be able to get more books into the homes of those children in need."