Charleston, W.Va. (August 12, 2005) – The West Virginia Library Commission voted today to partner with the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards program, according to John R. Snider, vice president, external affairs, eastern region, for Arch Coal, Inc.

"We're very pleased that the state's libraries are joining the West Virginia Department of Education and the West Virginia Education Association as our program partners," said Snider. "Teachers count on libraries as important places of learning. Now, Arch Coal can count on libraries to help get their communities involved in nominating teachers for our annual awards, too."

"The West Virginia Library Commission met today and voted overwhelmingly to support this program," said State Library Commission Secretary J.D. Waggoner. "Whenever libraries can become even more closely aligned with the classroom, we are helping our state's youth achieve at higher levels."

"The teacher achievement awards program is an important means for Arch Coal to say thank you to our state's best classroom teachers," said Snider. "Our teacher recognition program is the longest-running, privately sponsored program of its type in the state."

Libraries will post information about the program for their many patrons to use for nominations. The teacher recognition program asks the public to nominate deserving teachers either by mail or over the Internet. All state libraries have Internet access.

Last year, Arch Coal provided each of the 12 recipients of its award a $2,500 personal, unrestricted cash award. Information on the awards program, a listing of the recipients and Internet nomination forms are available at www.archteacherawards.com.

Arch Coal is the nation's second largest coal producer. Nearly 2,000 people are employed at Arch's operations in West Virginia. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACI) and maintains its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.