Happy New Year and Thanks for all your support

Lorrie Stapleton and Doug Francefort with the volunteers at the Greenwich Book Shed

What an amazing year this has been! I feel so lucky to have stumbled upon the concept of matching up wonderfully generous book donors with kids in need. In our first year, Julio and I were able to deliver about 39,000 gently used books to 52 schools and community organizations in Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk and Greenwich. Doug and Gerhard expanded our reach with 8,000 books to senior centers, hospitals and a host of local public book cases.

This would not have been possible without the weekly donations from the residents of Greenwich who provided 26,000 books via the Greenwich Recycling Book Shed, and the residents of Darien who provided over 10,000 books via Darien Book Aid. Each of these organizations have many dedicated volunteers who provide endless hours accepting and sorting books. We are also very thankful to the many schools, teachers, donations centers and individuals who heard about our service and got in touch with some fabulous book donations.

Looking back over the many, many places we have distributed books this year, it has really been the generosity of spirit of all of the people we have met involved in the schools, daycare, and charitable organizations that stand out. We really look forward to expanding our reach in 2016.   

Happy New Year to everyone and thanks so much for your support!   

Lorrie Stapleton

Care Around the Clock is a very lively, inviting childcare care center

Jill Lamberti, Director of Child Development and Madeline Carrillo, Childcare Coordinator

We dropped off a fun selection of pop-up books and preschool favorites on January 18th at Care Around the Clock, a childcare center in Bridgeport that serves over 270 children ranging from infants through 5 years old. Madeline Carrillo, the Childcare Coordinator, is a wonderful bundle of unbridled energy and enthusiasm. She took us on a tour of the 26 classrooms, where we got a sense for how much all the teachers and children there love to read.   

It is part of the Hall Neighborhood House which provides services and support to downtown Bridgeport through a Youth Services program, the Hall Arts Academy (HAA) and the Ella Jackson Senior Citizen Center. We hope to provide books to all of these centers in the future.

Books provided by Greenwich Book Swap

The kids actually cheered We Love Books at Discovery Magnet School!

Tiffany Ladson-Lang with her gang of readers

Rebecca Feola

This school has so much enthusiasm for books and reading! When Julio and I arrived with about 450 gently used books, we were greeted with warm hugs from Rebecca Feola, the Literacy Specialist. We soon learned as we carted the books to the library that Rebecca has a huge heart and all the kids and faculty seem to love her. Once we got into their beautiful library, the librarian, Tiffany Ladson-Lang, shouted out to the 20+ kids there that new books had arrived. The kids all shouted back "Yea! We love books!" Wow - makes you want to bring more books every day.  

This six year old Discovery Magnet School is PreK-8th grade and has about 500 students from both urban and suburban areas of Bridgeport. 

Books sourced from Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid

Welcome to the new Precious Memories, opened on December 18th!

Trecia Gooden and Cindy Schacht in front of the new preschool

We stopped by with a collection of books for the newly opened Precious Memories Early Childhood Learning Center on Main Street in Bridgeport. This latest of 4 schools, established by Sheree Higgins, was the result of a federal Preschool Development Grant which provides assistance in expanding programs serving low income, foster and homeless children. Cindy Schacht, the program director for this location said that they already have filled 38 of the possible 54 spots for 4 year olds.

We look forward to working with them as their school grows.

Books provided by Greenwich Book Swap

Kids Helping Kids had an amazing Gift of Giving event

Kate did a great setup on Friday night

Ethan and Nick handled the marketing 

The whole crew

We were so pleased to be invited to host the book tables at the 3rd annual Gift of Giving event at the Stamford Boys and Girls Club today. Over 850 people went home with gifts for their loved ones and every kid was able to take as many books as they wanted. We had 5 wonderfully enthusiastic KHK volunteers who helped children and their parents pick out titles for themselves and family members.

This kid-run event was so inspiring, and definitely worth a trip to their Facebook  and KHK web page to learn more about this organization.

Over 800 books were provided by Greenwich Book Swap, Darien Book Aid, Scarsdale Woman's Club, and KHK donors.

Bridgeport Military Academy has a new home with a very empty library

A couple of cadets (who were really more interested in the box of novels!) 

Lots of shelves to fill

Bridgeport Military Academy is a "First Responder High School focusing on Police, Fire, Emergency Medical, Homeland Security and Military Sciences". That sounds like a mouthful, but it's pretty amazing what these 250 cadets in grades 9-11 are learning. The school is only 3 years old and they will grow to a full 9 -12th grade high school next year. Mary Pat Underhill showed us around and described some of their very cool 'tools of the trade' such as an ambulance simulator, their crime scene investigation lab, forensics lab, 911 simulator and the air patrol lab that partners with pilot lessons at Sikorsky.

We dropped off some great books on military history, biographies and other non fiction for their library. We made sure to have some great teen novels for the cadets as well. It will be fun to try to find good books for their library over the coming year.

Books sourced from Scarsdale Woman's Club and Darien Book Aid

The Fairchild Wheeler Campus hosts three STEM based magnet schools

We dropped off some books today for a teacher at the gorgeous, state-of-the-art Fairchild-Wheeler Multi-Magnet High School in Bridgeport, which offers its 750 students a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) project-based curriculum. It is run as three separate magnet high schools: Information Technology & Software Engineering, Biotechnology Research & Zoological Sciences, and Aerospace/Hydrospace Engineering & Physical Sciences.  

Although our 'sweet spot' for books is typically PreK - 8th grades, it was fascinating to see what educational options are available at the high school level in Bridgeport. 

Books sourced from Scarsdale Woman's Club and Darien Book Aid

Capital Preparatory Harbor School has a 12 month school year

Flor Saucedo, Director of Operations 

Capital Prep Harbor, which just opened at the end of August is modeled on Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford which provides a year-round, college-preparatory education that encourages students to become scholars and agents of change. At Capital Prep, every student is expected to graduate and attend a four-year college of their choice. Capital Prep is an early-college model, which means students will have access to college courses while in high school.

We dropped off about 150 books today, but hope to support them further as they refine their needs.

Books sourced from Scarsdale Woman's Club and Greewich Book Swap

Great Oaks Charter School has expanded in its second year of operation

Krystal and Virgilio in the school's library

...with some Great Oaks Charter students

Last year when we visited Shana Hurley, Director of Operations at Great Oaks Charter School, it had just opened - and now it has over 200 students in grades 6-7. At scale it will grow to 6-12th grades, but in the meantime, it has the wonderful feeling of a small school where everyone cares about each other. Krystal Nguyen and Virgilio Hunter are building a library for the students and we were able to add about 230 books to their collection today.

Books sourced from Scarsdale Woman's Club, Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid

Scarsdale Woman's Club shares some books from their Operation Bookshelf

Natasha Rose, Pat Seyfried, Connie Vaughan, Mary Van Cott and Lucille DeBellis

Connie, Pat, Lucille, Natasha and Collette Guerig 

I met Connie Vaughan and her crew today at Operation Bookshelf at the The Scarsdale Woman's Club. They have two floors of books in a lovely old carriage house and were kind enough to offer up about 500 excess children's books.

Operation Bookshelf accepts donations of gently used books and then distributes them to nonprofits in the U.S. and overseas. To date, they have distributed over 2 million books to needy organizations such as nursing homes, inner-city schools, prisons, soldiers, veterans' hospitals and Peace Corps groups overseas.

Many thanks to them for the books and we'll be sure to check back to say where they have landed. 

We found an old friend at Bryant School

While dropping off 350+ books at Bryant School  (PrK-6th, 400 students), we were greeted by Victoria Egri, the Principal. We met her last school year when she was Assistant Principal at Luis Marin. Congratulations Vicky on your new role! Your school is very warm and inviting. 

Books sourced from Greenwich Books Swap, Greenwich Alliance, and individual contributors. 

Waltersville School has a beautiful library

Yesenia Rosabo, Librarian of Waltersville School

We took 450 books today to Waltersville School in Bridgeport which has about 500 students in PrK-8th grade. 

They have a fabulous library and Yesenia Rosabo, their librarian, makes everyone feel very welcome. 

Books sourced from Greenwich Alliance, Greenwich Book Swap, and individual donations.

The International Institute of Connecticut helps immigrants and refugees

Helen and Doyin of IICONN with one of their client families and Julio from Books4Everyone in front of their headquarters in Bridgeport 

A while back the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich generously donated a lot of backpacks filled with school supplies for us to distribute in Bridgeport. We found it tough to narrow down which school should get them, until Julio came up with the idea of IIConn. He remembered how valuable they had been to him and his family when they arrived in the US and and thought it was a perfect fit as kids arrive new to Bridgeport throughout the school year.

I was really impressed with the incredible people who provide new immigrants and refugees in Connecticut with services to help them become self-sufficient, integrated and contributing members of the community. IICONN offers legal, social, linguistic and educational programs to help them overcome these obstacles. The Institute also provides special services to victims of serious crimes such as human trafficking, torture, and domestic violence. 

Many thanks to the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich

The Child & Family Guidance Center is looking for books to send home to families in Bridgeport

Ann McCarthy, Director of Development and Communications with Lorrie Stapleton and Julio Reinoso of Books4Everyone

We dropped off 100 board books and young readers to the Child & Family Guidance Center in Bridgeport. This organization runs 19 programs, providing mental health treatment, prevention support, care coordination and other services to children and families on Southwestern Connecticut. Ann McCarthy and the new leadership team is very interested in promoting childhood literacy and we have agreed to become one of their sources for books to go home to the families.

These books were sourced from Kristin Proctor

Read School is really into reading!

Linda Nelson, Home School Coordinator and Michelle Bonney-Gee, Assistant Principal

Bridgeport's Read School houses around 860 students in PreK - 8th grade. Our 600+ books today and a large book delivery this week from Tokeneke schools will provide Read with a robust selection of books for the kids to take home at an upcoming family event.

We got a chance to spend a little quality time with Lisa Nelson, the Home School Coordinator for Read. In the Bridgeport public schools, the home school coordinators at each school provide an invaluable role in encouraging parents and families to be fully engaged with the schools from the time their child enters elementary school through high school. Lisa is involved in everything from literacy programs, family and community events, to the school's community garden. At many of the Bridgeport schools we are working with the teachers and librarians to fill classrooms and libraries with books, while at the same time working with the HSCs to make sure that plenty of books are available to take home.   

Books were sourced from: Kristin Proctor, Greenwich Book Swap and Cos Cob Library

We dropped off about 700 books at Geraldine Johnson School

Marlene Roberts, Principal of Geraldine Roberts School

This was our first visit to Geraldine Johnson School in Bridgeport and we received a very warm welcome from the school's principal, Marlene Roberts. This is a PreK - 8th grade school housing about 880 students in a beautiful building. We look forward to building a relationship over the coming years. 

Books were sourced from: Kristin Proctor, Greenwich Book Swap, and Darien Book Aid.

Best. Day. Ever.

I was so glad to have three CLC pre-school classes attack the outdoor bookshelves at DOMUS when I was filling them this morning. Their enthusiasm was absolutely infectious and every child walked away with a precious book. The teachers also grabbed a few for their new classroom libraries.

We are going to make it a weekly event, so I'll make sure we have plenty on hand!

Many thanks to our book sources: the Cos Cob Library book sale, the Greenwich Alliance book fair and preschool teacher Kristin Proctor.

Preschool books for everyone!

Kristin and Bruce with their enormous donation

Had so much fun today filling up my car with an enormous load of books donated by Kristin and Bruce. She had run a preschool program for 14 years and was thrilled to hear that we will be able to find new homes for her lovely books. This beautifully curated collection was organized by topic, so tomorrow I will be running around to several local preschools to get the 100+ Halloween and Thanksgiving books into the right hands.

Thanks so much to them in advance from all of the schools who will benefit.  

Greenwich Alliance and Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich pass along their extra books

Happy Readers (Greenwich Free Press photo) 

The Greenwich Alliance for Education ran a very popular free book fair last Wednesday at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich. This annual book drive is part of Greenwich Reads Together, and Greenwich Academy collected 1,900 books in their middle school to help support this successful event. It promotes childhood literacy by letting kids fill their bags with free books to take home.  Right up our alley here at Books4Everyone!

Many thanks to Julie Faryniarz, Executive Director of Greenwich Alliance for giving us their excess books to distribute elsewhere.  Thanks as well to Don Palmer, Program Director of Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich for providing us with excess backpacks that we'll be taking up to Bridgeport schools.  

We had a very warm reception at Edison Elementary School

This was our first visit to Edison School in Bridgeport and we were fortunate enough to meet with Lisa Andrews, Theresa Corby and Mary Kate Sember, the Literacy Coach.  Edison is a K-6 school with about 250 kids, and these first graders were very excited about getting some books.

Books sourced from: Greenwich Book Swap, Darien Books Aid, Cos Cob Library and Parkway School