To help more low-income families build home libraries and to encourage families to read together, Scholastic will donate 1 million books to a nonprofit that gives free books to children living in poverty.

The world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books announced the donation, which includes a large quantity of bilingual Spanish/English books, on Monday.

Reach Out and Read will give away the books to low-income families during office visits with their children's doctors. Scholastic is a long-time supporter of the organization that distributes free books through pediatric professionals and hospital staff who educate the families about the importance of reading aloud.

The Scholastic million book donation comes just a day after Reach Out and Read was awarded $150,000 by the Library of Congress as the recipient of the prestigious David M. Rubenstein Prize, which honors organizations with a record of advancing literacy worldwide.

"As Reach Out and Read is poised to begin its 25th year, these books, along with the award from the Library of Congress, will be instrumental in creating a new generation of readers," said Reach Out and Read Executive Director Anne-Marie Fitzgerald. "On behalf of our 5,000 Reach Out and Read clinics nationwide and the millions of children we serve nationwide, I thank Scholastic for this tremendous gift."

(READ more from the LA Times)