CHARLESTON, W.Va., November 14, 2012 – On Nov. 15, Appalachian Power employees will celebrate Read to Me Day by sharing a book with students at nearly 400 elementary schools.

A group of approximately 300 employee volunteers will fan out across the company’s service territory to read the book Blackout to elementary school students. The book is written and illustrated by John Rocco.

At each of the schools, employees will read to students in two or more classrooms, then donate the book to the school’s library. The company began large-scale participation in West Virginia in 2001 and expanded to Virginia last year. Over the years Appalachian Power has donated more than 4,000 books to school libraries and read aloud to more than 175,000 students.

“Our Read to Me Day school partnership is a great way for our employees to be involved in communities where they live and work,” said Cindy Miller, Read to Me Day coordinator.  “It’s also an opportunity for us to emphasize the important role that reading plays in education and careers.”

Appalachian Power has almost 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states.

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