Lynda Holmes recently was named the grand-prize winner in Hall Book Exchange's recent reading marathon. Holmes, literacy promotion chairwoman for the Col. William Candler chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, brought in the most pledges and won an Atlanta Braves jacket, gift certificates and a golf umbrella, among other prizes.

Don Stewart of Jackson Electrical Membership Corp, and Gwen Hill of Operation Round-Up recently presented Alan Harkness, Piedmont Library System director, with a check for $10,000 from the members of Jackson EMC.

The donation will be used for purchasing juvenile non-fiction books in all 11 libraries of the Piedmont System, which includes Banks, Barrow and Jackson counties.