Taylor Swift donates 25,000 Scholastic books to New York schools

NEW YORK, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Taylor Swift has donated a total of 25,000 new, age-appropriate books to 25 New York City schools.

The gift was made through the Scholastic Possible Fund as a result of Swift's support of the company's "Open a World of Possible" initiative, which was designed to promote independent reading among children.

"Scholastic is honored to join with Taylor Swift who continues to show a passion for literacy and a commitment to spreading the message of how influential books can be in a child's life," Greg Worrell, president of Scholastic Education, said in a statement Wednesday. "Through this donation, we aim to encourage independent reading, which inspires a love of learning and to 'Open a World of Possible' for more New York City students by making sure they have access to the very best children's books."

"We are really looking forward to receiving these books and incorporating them into our school's library so that all students in our building can have access to them," added Nova Xiomara, principal of P.S. 132, Juan Pablo Duarte School, in Manhattan.