The south Georgia town of 15,000 has been billing itself as the "Reading Capital of the World" since October because its residents had read more than 900,000 books over four years and accumulated more that 1 million points under a scoring system based on each book's length and difficulty.

     Mike Brumby, who runs an educational foundation in Tifton said the totals as of Wednesday were 901,075 books and 1,043,706 points.

     "We claim victory.  No recount is forthcoming," Tifton Mayor Paul Johnson told the crowd.

     The program started at one elementary school and spread to all schools in Tifton County.  Then it spread to adults.  At least 10 businesses offered employees incentives for reading, and community leaders are using the accomplishment to attract new industries.

     In hopes of getting into the Guinness Book of Records, the stadium crowd read quietly from the book of their choice for one minute and read from Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat" aloud in unison for one minute.  Organizers hoped to set records for the largest community silent reading and the largest group oral reading.

     The celebration featured a high school band, cheerleaders and students dressed in costumes representing book characters, such as Prince Charming.

     Second grader Kelcie Dilmore, 7, was one of the town's leading student readers.  Her books included Second Samuel from the Bible and an adventure series known as "Boxcar Children."

     "I love to read, " she said.  "It makes you more intelligent."