Rocker Colin James taking to the streets to support Raise-a-Reader Musician to be among many notables selling The Sun to raise money for literacy

VANCOUVER - Newsboys hawking the morning paper disappeared from Vancouver streets many moons ago. But they'll reappear Thursday morning when a small army of volunteers will hit the downtown streets to sell The Vancouver Sun to raise money for the Raise-a-Reader family and children's literacy program.

Like most musicians, Colin James doesn't consider himself a morning person. But he'll be out selling papers at 7 a.m., because he knows the value of literacy.

"I think reading is really important," he says. "In my life it's been particularly important, because in a lot of ways I'm self-schooled, because I didn't finish high school.

"Reading became really important to me around 22, 23. I thought, 'Oh my God, I've got to learn about things!' So I went on a history-reading binge later on in my life. Reading is great for the imagination, and it's great for families -- it's great to read to your kids."

James will be joined on street corners by fellow musicians including Lee Aaron, Jim Byrnes and John Mann, as well as Vancouver Canucks alumni like Richard Brodeur, Stan Smyl and Orland Kurtenbach. There will be a wide assortment of media types such as Sun columnists Gary Mason, Pete McMartin and Malcolm Parry and broadcasters Bill Good, Phil Reimer and Kevin Newman. And there will be both politicians such as Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and former politicians including former premier Glen Clark.

This is the eighth year The Sun has supported the Raise-a-Reader program, and it's been so successful, it's now country-wide.

Raise-a-Reader chair Louise Watson says $850,000 has been raised over the years in B.C., and this year's goal of $275,000 should push the total well over the $1-million mark provincially. The provincial government has also pledged to match whatever money Raise-a-Reader brings in.

The basic premise is simple: all profits from single-copy sales of Thursday's Sun go to Raise-a-Reader, along with money collected from a wide variety of corporate sponsors. Some of the beneficiaries include Literacy B.C., the Canucks for Kids fund, the Vancouver Public Library Foundation, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and SUCCESS immigrant services.

The money is then doled out for a wide variety of programs. SUCCESS runs reading programs in several languages; the CNIB operates a literacy camp for blind kids on Bowen Island.

The Vancouver Firefighters Union raised $5,000 for Raise-a-Reader this year, and decided to donate it to a school that needed reading materials. With the help of the Vancouver school board, the money was given to Admiral Seymour school in Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood.

Admiral Seymour, founded in 1900, is one of Vancouver's oldest schools and also one of its most ethnically diverse, with students speaking more than a dozen languages. It has a relatively small student population of 193 enrolled from junior kindergarten to Grade 7, and a very small budget for new library books: $1,600 annually.

In spite of a lack of resources, Seymour students have scored very well on some province-wide tests. Seymour's Grade 4s scored higher than both the district and provincial average in terms of reading comprehension. With the firefighters' donation, the kids will have triple the number of new books to choose from in the library this year.

"It was explained to us they would be very worthy to give to, because of the fact they have a lot of students who just love to read," said firefighters' union vice-president Al Gregory.

School librarian Colleen Tsoukalis says the impact of the donation will be profound.

"It means a chance to have brand-new books, not old ones," she said.

"The kids think the library should be filled with all the new books, and that a librarian should know all of them, including all the Harry Potters and the latest [releases]."

Nationally, Watson said Raise-a-Reader hopes to raise $1.5 million in 13 cities across Canada. To make a donation or get more information, visit the website at www.canada.com.

CELEBRITY SELLERS:

Celebrities who will be selling The Vancouver Sun Thursday for the Raise-a-Reader 2004 campaign:

Vancouver Canucks alumni: Orland Kurtenbach, Chris Oddleifson, Jyrki Lumme, Bill Ranford, Stan Smyl, Steve Tambellini, Jack McIlhargey, Harold Snepsts, Mike Johnston. Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford and general manager Dave Nonis.

Media: Dennis Skulsky, Patricia Graham, Kirk LaPointe, Jamie Pitblado, Gary Mason, Pete McMartin, Malcolm Parry, Lynne McNamara, Katherine Monk from The Vancouver Sun; Bill Good, Phil Reimer, John Shorthouse from CKNW; Zack Spencer, Kevin Newman from Global.

Politicians: Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell; Dr. Hedy Fry, MP, Vancouver Centre; Christy Clark, MLA, Port Moody-Westwood; Lorne Mayencourt, MLA, Vancouver-Burrard; Raymond Louie, councillor, City of Vancouver; Ellen Woodsworth, councillor, City of Vancouver.

Musicians: Colin James, John Mann, Jim Byrnes, Lee Aaron.

Others: Glen Clark, NewsGroup (former B.C. premier); Jamie Graham, chief constable, Vancouver police department; various members of the Vancouver Fire Fighters' Charitable Society; Steve Podborski, former Canadian Olympic skier; Katie Gordon, Miss Teen Vancouver.