YALSA and SummerSlam Read Jam

STAMFORD, CT, June 17, 2009 ? In support of President Obama’s new ?United We Serve? initiative (http://serve.gov/), World Wrestling Entertainment and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) are teaming up for the SummerSlam Reading Jam, which kicks off Wednesday, June 24, in libraries nationwide. 500 libraries across 47 states and the District of Columbia are participating in the program to encourage teens and tweens to visit their local libraries and read throughout the summer (to see the list of libraries, go to: http://WWEKids.com or http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/ssrj_librarylist.pdf). Mattel is also a partnering with WWE and YALSA for the SummerSlam Reading Jam.

Participating libraries will award a poster featuring WWE? Superstars Rey Mysterio?, Evan Bourne?, Beth Phoenix? and Eve? to the first 25 teens and tweens between ages 10 and 18, who check out two books. Posters, each of which are numbered, are available until July 16 or as long as supplies last.

On Friday, July 17, two poster numbers will be drawn determining the grand prize winners along with alternate poster numbers, all of which will be posted on http://WWEKids.com/. The two grand prize winners will win airfare to Los Angeles for two, two nights? hotel, two tickets and $200 spending money for WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 23, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ten first prize winners will win copies of the WWE Encyclopedia.

?The SummerSlam Reading Jam allows WWE the opportunity to again join forces with YALSA to promote youth literacy and support this new initiative from President Obama,? said Michelle Wilson, WWE’s Executive Vice President, Marketing. ?Building upon our success in working with school and public libraries on our annual nationwide WrestleMania Reading Challenge during the school year, this new initiative gives us the opportunity to use our most popular summer pay-per-view, SummerSlam, to extend our efforts to get young people to read into the summer.?

?Reading for fun during the summer months is crucial for young people as it helps them retain reading skills they acquire during the school year,? said Sarah Cornish Debraski, YALSA president. ?Summer reading initiatives, such as this new SummerSlam Reading Jam, are great ways to encourage teens and tweens to keep reading over the summer. Libraries also offer many volunteer opportunities for teens looking to enrich themselves, making libraries a perfect match for President Obama’s ?United We Serve? initiative. We are excited to launch this project with WWE and Mattel.?

Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at http://wwe.com and http://corporate.wwe.com/. For information on our global activities, go to www.wwe.com/worldwide/.