CHICAGO– The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) the fastest growing division of the American Library Association (ALA) and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE: NYSE) are pleased to announce the 5 National Finalists of YALSA’s WWE® WrestleMania® Reading Challenge.  Each finalist won a trip to WrestleMania 23 in Detroit $2 000 for their library and a chance to compete for ringside seats at WrestleMania 23 on Sunday April 1 2007.

The five winners each represent a different region of the U.S. including the city of Detroit which is hosting WrestleMania 23.  Cardeale Lightfoot from Detroit Michigan and Carol Hale librarian at the Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library are winners of the Detroit Region; T.J. Cody from Moss Tennessee and Judith Cutright librarian at the Clay County Public Library are the winners of the South Region; Adrianna Slaughter of Mitchelville Iowa and Carol VanHook media specialist at the Southeast Polk Senior High Library are the winners from the Midwest Region; Caitlin Bollbach of Mahopac New York and Rita Covelli librarian at the Mahopac Public Library are the Northeast Region winners; and Gena Uzzle of Carson City Nevada along with librarian Cory King at the Carson City Library are the West Region winners.

The WrestleMania Reading Challenge sponsored by YALSA asked students enrolled in grades 9-12 to read 10 books between Teen Read WeekÔ October 15-21 2006 and January 16 2007.  Two books Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher winner of the Margaret Edwards Award and Black & White by Paul Volponi were required reading.  Students then self-selected the 8 other titles they wanted to read.  Each participant was required to submit a short reading log that described the books that were read along with a 300-word essay or web page describing/portraying some aspect of the two required books.  The top two winners from each library were submitted to the YALSA office and one winner from each region was chosen as a National finalist.  More than 460 libraries from across the country participated in the program.

“YALSA has been fortunate to have the continued support of the WWE in several reading events.” said YALSA President Judy Nelson.  “Helping teens realize that television personalities enjoy reading in addition to their visible professional activities supports one of the goals of YALSA and its members–to encourage teens to read for the fun of it.”

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford Conn. with offices in New York City Los Angeles Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.  Information about Get R.E.A.L. Read is located at: http://getreal.wwe.com.  

 For 50 years YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books videos and audio books for teens.  For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading viewing and listening go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists or contact the YALSA office by phone 800-545-2433 ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org. 

Trademarks: The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming talent names images likenesses slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment logos are trademarks which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.