The American Bible Society and the New Jersey Division of The Salvation Army have announced they will expand their cooperative literacy program, Mission:Literacy. Following a successful pilot program, the two organizations have signed a ten-year Copyright License Agreement that gives the New Jersey Division of The Salvation Army ownership of Mission:Literacy and the right to print, use and distribute it among other divisions of The Salvation Army across the United States.

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The American Bible Society designed Mission:Literacy to equip readers with vital literacy tools and with biblical principles for daily living. The primary focus is on elementary and middle school students struggling with poor reading proficiency. The program provides children with a chance to improve their life, particularly since poor reading skills also increase their involvement with the criminal justice system. The Bible Society brought its 190-year legacy of communicating God's Word to the program and The Salvation Army provided the children for the program and staff from three of its New Jersey corps: Newark Westside, Paterson and New Brunswick.

The pilot phase of the Mission:Literacy program, launched in 2006, was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Scripture-based curriculum that is designed to help break the vicious cycle that illiteracy creates. Tutors at Newark Westside, Paterson and New Brunswick guided academically at-risk children towards reading proficiency through games, character discussions and vocabulary building activities based on stories in the Bible Society's illustrated texts. The individualized instruction was the catalyst many of the children needed. Seeing improvement in reading skills made The Salvation Army even more enthusiastic about continuing to offer Mission:Literacy in the future.

Thomas Durakis, Director for Publishing Services at the American Bible Society's Bibles.com says, "The American Bible Society is very pleased to be partnering with the Salvation Army to share our Literacy Program with people all over the United States. We are confident that many lives will be positively impacted by people learning to read and being exposed to God's Word."

Captain Felicia Flora of Newark Westside said, "This program, without a doubt, has made a great impact on the learning and education of our youth ages Kindergarten through 3rd grade. We saw definite improvements in the children, and our staff is excited about the future use of this program. Some of our children, for the first time, are being introduced to the Bible and to the stories they have never heard before."

Dawn Sharp, Divisional Child Care Consultant for The Salvation Army, states, "The Salvation Army will continue to honor the American Bible Society's singular vision and generous investment by expanding its use of Mission:Literacy in New Jersey and other divisions -- developing skilled readers who enjoy the stories of Scripture."

Founded in 1816 and headquartered in New York City, the mission of the American Bible Society is to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message. The American Bible Society Web site is .