The National Book Foundation, GoodReads, Mashable and Penguin Random House all share a passion for fostering a culture of reading in America, so together they are joining forces to create a National Readathon Day.

On Saturday, January 24 from Noon-4:00 pm (in respective time zones) readers are invited to commit to read a book for four straight hours, and to raise funds to support the National Book Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which brings books to needy communities and promotes innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.

Bookstores are invited to host a “reading party” on January 24, so that readers can gather, connect, and read silently together all Saturday afternoon. Organizers are asking participants to share their experiences the hashtag #timetoread.

“We think and hope this may also prove a great opportunity for indie bookstores to drive foot traffic in late January, with a fun community event, at a time of year that historically can be slower,” says Jynne Martin, one of the Readathon committee members.

Martins says that readers can either raise money individually, or as organized teams (bookstores, for instance, can organize teams under their names – “Team BestBookstoreEver” etcetera). National Readathon Day is partnering with FirstGiving.org for this effort and all money goes directly to the work the National Book Foundation does promoting a culture of reading and appreciation of literature throughout America.

If your bookstore would like to host an event, here’s how:

• Tell the organizers that you plan to host a Readathon party by emailing them at nationalreadathon@gmail.com
• Visit the Readathon resources section and download supporting materials. Be one of the first 100 venues to sign up and they’ll ship a Readathon Day poster to you.
• Promote National Readathon Day in your store or library by displaying event signage and promoting it in your newsletter and social media efforts leading up to the day.
• Join in on National Readathon Day on January 24th from 12:00 noon-4:00 pm and make #timetoread.