Ayn Rand Novels Flood Classrooms Across America
June 25, 2007

IRVINE, CA--This school year, the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) shipped more than 300,000 free copies of Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged to high school teachers across North America.

According to Marilee Dragsdahl, ARI's education manager, "adding these copies to the 500,000 we shipped in recent years, and that still remain in classrooms today, we estimate that more than 800,000 students read Ayn Rand's novels in 25,000 classrooms this school year."

Each school year ARI distributes promotional flyers that offer free classroom sets of Ayn Rand's novels to English and language arts teachers, department heads and principals, as well as selected counselors and high school administrators. "This offer," said Mrs. Dragsdahl, "is available to both public and private high schools throughout the United States. Through this program, which I have been running for five years, more than 1.5 million students have read and studied Ayn Rand's novels."

"Each teacher who requests these books," explained Mrs. Dragsdahl, "receives a classroom set of the novels, along with a teacher's guide, lesson plans and information about ARI's annual Anthem, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged essay contests. We also offer to teachers phone and e-mail support, as needed, to facilitate their teaching of the books in their classes. The response has been fantastic."

Here is what some of the teachers who received free books from ARI and taught them in their classrooms had to say:
 
"Our school could not have been more thrilled to receive all those free texts, and our students are gaining so much from them!" (Esparto, CA)
 
"In an age when we battle a multitude of distractions and apathy, these books have helped ignite a new spark in the classroom."  (Victoria, TX)

"[My students] absolutely LOVED The Fountainhead. Over half of the students who read the novel cite major changes in the way they perceive their roles in their own lives. Many students feel that the novel has a life-changing impact, and several students convince friends in other classes to read the novel, as well.” (Carlsbad, CA)

"Students responded [to Anthem] with thoughtful reflection. They were honors 9th graders, and it was the first time they really had a book that presented them with so much to think about." (Covina, CA)

"I love Anthem and The Fountainhead. I have been recommending them to other teachers and students throughout my 20-year career." (Sierra Vista, AZ)

More information on the Free Books to Teachers program is available at the Ayn Rand Institute's Web site, www.aynrand.org/freebooks.

In addition to the Free Books program, ARI has also recently launched a new Web site for students at http://www.aynrandnovels.com/. The site currently contains information about Ayn Rand's life, her novels and her ideas, as well as information on the Institute's other activities of interest to students, such as essay contests and the Objectivist Academic Center. According to Mrs. Dragsdahl, "The primary goal of the new Web site is to help enhance the learning experience, and to generate enthusiasm among teachers and students for the ideas introduced in the novels and courses."

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