A few weeks ago, I wrote about The News' plans to change our policy on readers' online comments. The gist is this: Beginning Aug. 2, we will no longer post anonymous comments. If you want to comment in The News — both in print and online — you'll have to give us your real name and hometown.

Since then, the response has come fast and furious. The New York Times, CNN, the Boston Globe and Canada's CBC radio network have covered the decision, which seems to be the first of its kind for a metropolitan daily paper in the United States.

The move has touched off the hot topic of anonymous Web flaming.

Plenty of criticism has come our way — and some kudos, as well.

The naysayers (many of whom, interestingly, prefer to remain anonymous) are blasting us for what they see as noxious free-speech violations and an effort to protect our evil political agenda. The Internet, as they see it, is a place where anything goes. Limiting that is a sin against free expression.

The supporters, by contrast, are relieved that the astonishingly hateful and venomous commentary on news stories ("It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots," writes Gene Weingarten in a column that ran today) will likely be restrained once people have to identify themselves. They are hoping for a measure of civility, without the loss of wide-ranging discussion and diverse viewpoints.

Meanwhile, we are working on getting people's identities and verifying them. It's challenging in this era when many people don't have a published listing for a land line telephone, the traditional verification tool for printed "letters to the editor."

Those who are working on the project here recognize that there will be some bumps along the way. We also know that, like so many ventures on the Internet, this one is something of an experiment. We've tried the other way, living in the anonymous Wild West world, for more than a year, and are ready for something else.

Those readers who want to comment on stories can register in advance of the August changeover by clicking here.

We hope online News readers will tell us who they are and get right back in the discussion.

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The Buffalo News charity program nearest to my heart is the annual News Books for Kids drive, which over the past 15 years — in conjunction with the literacy organization Project Flight and a host of local partners — has put more than 1.5 million books in the hands of needy Buffalo-area children.

A recent column by David Brooks of the New York Times did a great job of explaining why such an effort is important. He writes about a new study that suggests that the mere ownership of books causes real education progress.

In the study, researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books, of their own choosing, to take home at the end of the school year for three consecutive years. Students did better in school and on tests. "Just having those 12 books seemed to have as much positive effect as attending summer school," Brooks wrote.

To all of those who participated this year in the successful local drive, I'd like to offer a deeply felt word of thanks. In a city with the third worst poverty rate in the nation — where two of every five children live in poverty — books really can change kids' lives.