TV's Montel Williams: "Go to Your Library, Check Out a Book"

Staff -- Library Journal, 03/31/1997

America's libraries have a new ally with high visibility. TV talk show host Montel Williams has been talking up the benefits of libraries to viewers and said he plans to "speak out and support libraries" on future programs. Saying that the "educational process" for viewers doesn't need to end "when the credits roll," the 1996 Emmy Award-winning Williams is encouraging more people to take advantage of what he calls the "best library system in the world." Like Oprah's program, Williams's show has begun to translate viewers into readers: more than 75,000 copies of The Pleasure Prescription were requested after the book and its author, Paul Pearsall, were featured on a December 11 broadcast.