Taj and Tata Sons Partner With First Book

Press release (Nov. 18, 2011) — Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and Tata Sons announced a gift of 10,000 new books to school children in the New York metropolitan area through their partnership with First Book, a nonprofit organization that provides new books to children from low-income families.

The donation will be announced during a reading celebration at the PS153 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary in Harlem. More than a dozen volunteers from Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, including employees from New York’s own Pierre Hotel, along with representatives from Tata Sons and First Book, will gather with a group of second and third grade students to participate in reading circles and activities. Each student will receive two books, I Can Save the Earth and The Jungle Book, to start their own library.

As part of the larger 10,000-book donation, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary will receive a $1,000 grant to the First Book Marketplace – an online resource through which brand new books are made available exclusively to schools and programs serving kids from low-income families. Jodi LeBlanc, Vice President-Sales and Marketing at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, will be at the event to introduce the donation and will be joined by Julia Hornaday of First Book and Niharika Chibber Joe, General Manager- North America, Tata Sons, all of whom will participate in the day’s activities.

“Teaching a child to read helps them to prepare for success in school, but teaching a child to love reading gives them a friend for life - you are never alone with a good book,” said Councilmember Robert Jackson, whose district includes PS 153. “I can think of no better way to encourage this love than by giving children access to new books. I’m grateful to First Book, Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces and to Tata Sons for their generous collaboration.”