Best-selling author James Patterson recently pledged to give away $1 million of his own money to independent booksellers around the country.
"We're in a juncture right now where bookstores as we have known them are at risk," Patterson last week told NPR's Renee Montagne. "Libraries as we've known them are at risk, publishers are at risk, American literature is at risk, as we've known it, and getting kids reading is at risk."
Each individual bookstore received up to $15,000 and there are no limits on how they use that money.
Wonderland Books and Toys in Rockford received $5,000 from Patterson. Owner Erin Taylor says the money was donated to the not-for-profit "Andy's Books for Kids... Sounds Like a Plan!" It was founded in honor of Andy Hodge, who lost his life to a brain tumor in 2006. The program is now in its seventh year of donating new children's books to kids in the greater Rockford area and beyond.
Illinois Bookstores Receiving Grants:
Wonderland Books – 1625 N Alpine Rd, Rockford, IL
Anderson's – Naperville, IL
Book Bin – Northbrook, IL
Lake Forest BookStore – Lake Forest, IL
