Charleston County children will help break a world record Thursday, October 6, as they join two million children nationwide reading the same book on the same day in Jumpstart's Read for the Record initiative, a project designed to draw attention to the importance of reading.

Charleston County Public Library is hosting 10 Read for the Record events Thursday to read this year's book - Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. To help promote this community-wide event and encourage attendance, the Library partnered with the City of Charleston Mayor's Office for Children, Youth and Families to secure special guest readers at three branches – Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, Charleston City Police Chief Greg Mullen and WCBD-TV 2 News Anchor Carolyn Murray.

(See below for a full listing of Read for the Record events scheduled at Charleston County libraries.)

The Jumpstart mission is to help every child develop language, literacy and social skills so they will be ready to enter school. Jumpstart's mission dovetails with CCPL's expanded initiatives to reach preschool students and families, an effort that grew dramatically 10 months ago when the Library added more than 100 PLAY (Public Libraries and You) programs every month specifically to reach families on Saturdays and in the evenings. All together, the Library offers about 250 children's programs each month at its 16 locations.

Jumpstart works with We Give Books, a digital reading and philanthropic initiative of the Pearson Foundation and Penguin Books, to coordinate the annual Read for the Record event. They select a book, and copies are donated to participants across the country. The goal of the annual one-day reading celebration is to raise awareness of America's early education achievement gap.

• John L. Dart Branch at 10:30 a.m. 1067 King Street, Charleston
  Special Guest Reader Charleston City Police Chief Greg Mullen
   
• Main Library at 10:30 a.m. 68 Calhoun St., Charleston
  Special Guest Reader Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley
   
• James Island Branch at 10:30 a.m. 1248 Camp Road, James Island
   
• Otranto Road Regional at 10:30 a.m. 2261 Otranto Rd., North Charleston
   
• St. Andrews Regional at 11:30 a.m. 1735 N. Woodmere Dr., Charleston
  Special Guest Reader WCBD-TV 2 News Anchor Carolyn Murray
   
• Main Library at 3:30 p.m. 68 Calhoun St., Charleston
   
• Mt. Pleasant Regional at 4 p.m. 1133 Mathis Ferry Rd., Mt. Pleasant
   
• Poe/Sullivan's Island Branch at 4 p.m. 1921 I'on Avenue, Sullivan's Island
   
• McClellanville Branch at 4:30 p.m. 222 Baker Street, McClellanville
   
• James Island Branch at 5:30 p.m. 1248 Camp Road, James Island