In 1920, the New York Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for $125,000. A Detroit radio station became the first to broadcast a news program on the air. The 19th Amendment passed, granting women’s suffrage. And somewhere in Pennsylvania, a fellow with the nickname of Robbie Robinson settled down in his mother’s sewing room after graduating from college and created the first issues of a magazine called The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic.

Ninety years later, Babe Ruth is still a legend. Radios are still broadcasting. Seventy-three percent of U.S. female citizens are registered to vote. And Scholastic is now a thriving, global children’s publishing, education, and media company – and a household name.

Scholastic is celebrating its 90th anniversary this fall, and we’ll be kicking off a host of programs and events! For starters, we’ll be launching a global literacy campaign called “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.” (www.scholastic.com/readeveryday) which will be brimming with exciting ways that readers from around the globe can participate. Right now, you can find information about the campaign, including its foundation, the Scholastic Reading Bill of Rights (which includes eight beliefs that affirm every child’s right to read and what that means in the 21st Century). The site will be a great resource for anyone interested in books, literacy, parenting and education – you can even download action steps and find out how you can help spread the message of global literacy.

We’ll be rolling out many other exciting features and news over the next few months, so stay tuned…but I suppose I can announce one more thing. (Yep, I’ve just been given clearance. Get ready – especially all you teachers!)

Taylor Swift – she of the Grammy Award-winning, best-selling musician fame – is coming to Scholastic for a unique live literacy event for students! On October 27, Taylor will appear in Read Now! with Taylor Swift, a webcast that’s exclusively for schools in the U.S. and around the world. Taylor will participate in a live interview and take questions from students in the live audience and online. The event will end with a live performance.

Schools and classrooms can begin registering for the live webcast event on August 23 at www.scholastic.com/readeveryday. But there’s more! On August 23rd, we’ll be opening an essay contest for 10 lucky students and their guardians to attend the event LIVE at Scholastic headquarters (all expenses paid!) and even meet Taylor Swift! And I’m not through yet…following the event, we’ll be calling on kids to Read Every Day and tell us about it so they can be entered into a sweepstakes to win a special prize.

More details for both of these opportunities, including the official rules, will be available on the Read Every Day site beginning August 23rd. We at OOM are so excited about this that we’ll be sure to remind you often – don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@Scholastic) and Facebook!

We can’t wait to begin celebrating 90 incredible years with you, our readers, and the people who are on the front lines of literacy. What books do you consider to be crucial in your life and career? We’ll be asking that question a lot as we kick off our 90th year, so why not get started now in the comments section?

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Previously On Our Minds:
* Scholastic CEO Dick Robinson delivers call-to-action for children’s reading and literacy
* Scholastic and The Gates Foundation release largest-ever teacher survey
* The future of reading, writing, and literacy instruction