NEW YORK, May 25 —Scribner, the publisher of Anthony Doerr’s glorious New York Times bestseller Cloud Cuckoo Land, and his Pulitzer Prize-winner All the Light We Cannot See, is pleased to work together with the Heart of America Foundation on its “Cloud Cuckoo Land Library Makeover Campaign,” a contest that will award a makeover to an under-resourced public or school library within the continental U.S. Nominations will be accepted nationwide through a dedicated Heart of America site beginning today May 25, 2022 and ending June 10, 2022. The campaign will seek nominations from libraries with librarians who are “book heroes,” and proposals should describe how a library makeover would impact the library’s community. Heart of America will select up to ten finalist libraries and the finalists will be posted on the site on July 25, 2022, for the public to vote on a winner. The library with the most votes will be notified this summer and will receive the makeover from Heart of America this fall. The makeover might include new furnishings, equipment, paint, carpet, a mural, and funds to purchase more books, depending on need. Up to five runner-up libraries will each receive a selection of more than one hundred adult and children’s books from Scribner and other Simon & Schuster imprints.

“I couldn’t be more excited about Scribner’s partnership with Heart of America and our opportunity to transform an under-resourced library,” said Anthony Doerr. “On the map of my life, few spots glow more brightly than the libraries, those luminous repositories of memory, little holy lands that have taught me, all my life, about the mysterious, profound, and addictive magic of the written word.”

“Anthony Doerr dedicated Cloud Cuckoo Land to ‘librarians then, now, and in the years to come,’” said Nan Graham, Senior Vice President, Publisher of Scribner, and Anthony Doerr’s longtime editor. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Heart of America to honor the work of librarians today, and to help refurbish at least one of these extraordinary institutions where so many readers discover the world of books.”

“Twenty-five years ago, Heart of America started working towards education equity with gifting quality books which has led to us remodeling whole library spaces,” said Jill Hardy Heath President and CEO of the Heart of America Foundation. “We have seen how librarians keep students connected to the past and help them see themselves in the future. Being a part of this project with Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Anthony Doerr’s extraordinary Cloud Cuckoo Land is a great honor.”

Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of 2021, Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring multi-threaded story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope—and a book. A National Book Award Finalist, Cloud Cuckoo Land was a New York Times Book Review “Notable Book” and was named a “Best of the Year” book by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, the Associated Press, and many more outlets. The novel will be published in paperback by Scribner on September 27, 2022.

In addition to Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See won the Carnegie Medal, the Alex Award, was a #1 New York Times bestseller, and is currently being adapted into a Netflix series. Anthony Doerr is also the author of the story collections Memory Wall and The Shell Collector, the novel About Grace, and the memoir Four Seasons in Rome. He has won five O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award, the National Magazine Award for fiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Story Prize.

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About the Heart of America Foundation 

Heart of America (HOA) provides high-quality resources and transforms spaces in under-resourced schools, helping to close the gap in education equality. (HOA) has been creating modern learning environments that are essential for children to reach their potential in a rapidly changing world. Through a six-step process that prioritizes listening and learning before taking action, HOA designs and transforms spaces, and builds partnerships, ensuring true collaboration and long-term sustainability. Heart of America has served more than two million students in need by distributing more than four million books, investing $4.5 million in technology, and transforming nearly 800 school libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums, college and career centers, tech labs, and many more educational spaces in historically marginalized communities across North America.

About Scribner/Simon & Schuster 

Simon & Schuster, a Paramount Company, is a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Adams Media, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.

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05/25/22

Contact: Brian Belfiglio
V.P., Director of Publicity and Marketing
Scribner
brian.belfiglio@simonandschuster.com