MOLINE, Ill. — Kara Taghon, the owner of The Atlas Collective in Moline is among 600 booksellers receiving $500 holiday bonuses from James Patterson, the bestselling novelist who has been awarding independent store employees since 2015.
"Truthfully, I was absolutely stunned," Taghon said. "It's our first year in business, and it's my first year as a traditional bookseller. It did catch me by surprise, this award."
Taghon told News 8 that she plans to use the bonus to purchase Christmas gifts for the store's employees.
In a statement released Tuesday through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Patterson said, “Booksellers save lives. Period. I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and all their hard work this holiday season.”
The winners were nominated by co-workers and customers, among others, and Patterson chose the winners from thousands of applications. 41 winners were selected in Illinois. You can find a list of all the recipients here.
Along with his gifts to booksellers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to schools, libraries and literacy programs. In 2015, the National Book Foundation presented him with an honorary National Book Award — the Literarian Award — for “outstanding service to the American literary community.”