ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 26, 2004 -- ProQuest Information and Learning has acquired Reading A-Z, the award-winning publisher of K-5 reading resources. Reading A-Z offers extensive and affordable reading resources for educators, parents, and home-school families worldwide by delivering downloadable, printable books, and other resources over the Internet. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, creates and publishes databases for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

"The addition of Reading A-Z resources significantly expands our ability to support learn-to-read initiatives, such as Reading First and other programs," said Al DeSeta, President of K-12, ProQuest Information and Learning.  "ProQuest is an established leader in supporting K-12 libraries with general-reference resources that support curriculum.  This acquisition provides opportunities to enhance our support of elementary education.

"With its Web delivery of reading materials, Reading A-Z offers the unique ability to respond quickly to the needs of students, teachers, and parents at a low cost," said DeSeta. "Putting books in the hands of children has been proven as a predictor of reading success. With its focus on building literacy skills, Reading A-Z is a complementary product line to our library and curriculum products."

Bob Holl, Publisher, Reading A-Z said, "We are excited to be part of ProQuest's K-12 educational programs.  Reading A-Z will now be able to further expand its services and products for districts, schools, teachers, parents, and students."

Reading A-Z, which was founded in 2002, offers more than 1,000 downloadable books (including French and Spanish-language books), as well as lesson plans, worksheets, and other valuable educational resources. While used primarily with K-5 learners, the materials are also used with a wide range of grade levels in special education and special needs, remedial reading, English as a Second Language (ESL), English Language Learner (ELL), and foreign language. The products have earned multiple awards, including a 2004 Parents' Choice Recommended Award from the Parents' Choice Foundation.

Customer service and technical support contacts will remain unchanged for customers. Customers can continue to access resources at www.readinga-z.com.

About ProQuest Information and Learning

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information worldwide for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business and economics, general reference, humanities, social sciences, and STM content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey^TM  electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary^TM  and SIRS® educational resources, and XanEdu^TM  online faculty and student resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.