Summer Reading Program - ANNOUNCED!

Monday, June 20, 2016

It's that time of year! Time for the Sixth Annual Maureen "AJ" Ramey Memorial Summer Reading Program, brought to you by Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men! 

Each year, Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men sponsors a summer reading program in honor of my beloved late daughter Moe. The one consistent thing in my daughter's life was her undying affection for the written word. So we'll read in her memory, and raise a book to honor her devotion to reading.

Moe came by her love honestly, as I LOVE reading. I read on my Kindle, on my iPad, on the Internet. I listen to Audiobooks whenever it's not practical to read words in a row. I'd read while I was sleeping if I could stay conscious. So once again, I'm sponsoring this reading program to benefit the 
Douglas County Library through the Douglas County Library Foundation,* in Moe-Moe's name. The proceeds from this program go to purchase the naming rights on the Parker Library's Maureen "A.J." Ramey Memorial Garden, which will be dedicated later this summer. 


Here's da rules:
  1. The contest will run from June 20th (that's today! The summer solstice! Yay!) to September 6th (the first working day after Labor Day. Boo.).
  2. When you finish a new book, post a comment on the "Hot Chicks and Smart Men Read!" page on this blog. There's even a link at the top of the blog for easy access! One comment, one book. PLEASE make sure you post your book titles on the page created for this purpose. If you post your books on THIS blog entry, they won't count, and that would be a big ole bummer.
  3. Audiobooks count. eBooks count. ANY book counts, with the exception of picture books. If you are reading a chapter book to a youngster, by all means, enter it, but picture books juke the stats.
  4. For each book that is read and registered in the comments by me and my readers, the Smart Man and I will donate $1 to the Douglas County Library Foundation, with a guaranteed donation of $500.00. This money is earmarked by the Foundation to secure the naming rights to the garden at the brand new Parker Library, scheduled to open this summer.
  5. When the contest ends, I will use a random number generator to find THE WINNERS. THE WINNERS will each get either a $25.00 gift certificate to Amazon OR a selection of my Famous Home Made Jams. Each unique comment (one comment, one book) will be an entry for the gift certificate or the jam, so the more you read, the better chance you have to win. Please note that if you commit to donating to your OWN local library, you increase your chances of winning!
  6. If the number of comments exceeds 500, the additional monies will be donated to the Douglas County Library Foundation general fund. 
READ! READ! READ!
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Do you want me to include a link to your summer reading program? Send me a note!
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ETA: Many people have asked if they can help fund the naming rights for the new Parker Library Garden. I can tell you how happy it makes me that people want to contribute, but the Smart Man and I have already fully funded this endeavor. It's something we wanted to do for our ourselves, and we're happy to earmark that money in our charity budget in perpetuity.

However, if you want to help us remember our Moe and do something fabulous for a cause she cared about, please sign up for a "matching donation" for the contest. Simply pick a local library in your community that is under-served or strapped for cash, and then commit to making a donation in whatever amount you wish in Moe's name after the contest ends. Then send me a note, letting me know the dollar amount and the Library you've chosen to support, and I'll post it to the contest page. For each dollar you commit to donate, I'll add another random number to your name for the prize drawing.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help with this important work. As a Social Justice Warrior and devoted reader, I can't think of a better way to honor our Beloved Moe's memory.


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*Full Disclosure: I am the Vice-President of the Douglas County Library Board of Trustees, and I am also on the Board of Directors for the Douglas County Libraries Foundation. So unlike in years past, when these organizations had no idea who I was, I'm now deeply involved with the beneficiary of my largess. However, this reading program (and the subsequent donation) are a private endeavor on my part, and have no connection to my volunteer work on behalf of the Library and its Foundation. I just loved them so much that in addition to my money, they're also now getting my time...also in memory of my Moe.

5 comments:

mom in northern said...

Wondered when you were gong to start this again.
Add my name to the matching funds...please $50.00
I will try not to spend all my excess $$ while I am in Oregon.
Love you
Mom

John said...

Also offering to add $50 to the pot. And starting my reading today!

Janiece said...

Thanks, Brother. Which library do you choose?

John said...

Any library that lends books to people who need them, has some internet access for those who need it and services to help those who need help with 1 and 2.

:-)

There was time (while dinosaurs were roaming the earth eating proto-christians, apparently) when I just about lived in the school library, the public library and the bookstore (aka the "Do I really need to buy this book to enjoy it? Can I maybe read the 1st 100 or so pages" library).

Where do we post? And where do I send said $?

Big hugs to you and a toast to AJ's memory. We just went past Alysia's 27th birthday.

J

Janiece said...

Hi John. You can post your reading on the page at the top entitled "Hot Chicks and Smart Men Read."

If you want to contribute matching funds, simply pick a local library in your community that's underserved it has limited resources and donate whatever amount you wish. Let me know what your pledge is (and which library you support), and I'll add it to my list in the contest page.