What a Great Year!
We are so happy to advise that we have distributed over 80,000 books since we started Books4Everyone in early 2015.
We want to thank everyone for the amazing support we get from our book donors. In 2016, we sourced over 80% of our gently used books from generous residents at the Town of Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid. Increasingly though, many schools, libraries and community organizations are contacting us to provide us with books from their annual book drives.
This year we hope to encourage clubs and schools to proactively help us collect more children's books so we can better serve the 70+ schools and community organizations we serve.
Love the new Claytor Magnet School
These kids love reading!
We had so much fun bringing a few boxes of books to Bridgeport Hope School on November 17th. The kids in this Kindergarten class enthusiastically picked out books for themselves as well as younger brothers and sisters. We were very impressed as a few of them read off the titles of the books.
Bridgeport Hope School is a small K-8th Grade Private Elementary and Middle School in which education of the whole child – from moral to academic aspects – is maximized. Currently the school attracts families seeking small class sizes, attention to moral values, and a solid academic education. The student body is culturally, racially, and religiously diverse.
These books were sourced from a recent school book drive
The Horizons Enrichment program at Greens Farms Academy provides valuable support
Luz Sanchez picked up some books this month for the Horizons Program at Greens Farms Academy. This Student Enrichment program was established in 2000 to address the achievement gap in low-income Bridgeport students and now serves over 200 PreK-12 Bridgeport students from 58 different schools each year. The High School Program provides one-on-one academic support, curriculum planning and mentoring to their preK-8 graduates.
Each student is individually paired with an academic coach, each highly proficient in guiding these students as they face the important challenges of high school and plan for college. This support is critical to assure that the students in Bridgeport high schools remain on track to graduate on time with options for post-secondary education. The high school students also spend two weeks during the summer session focusing on writing skills, college test prep, and college visits.
These books were sourced at the Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid
Many thanks to mayor Ganim and the Bridgeport City Council
On October 17th, we received a very special Official Citation from the Mayor's Office and the Bridgeport City Council for the work that Books 4 Everyone has done in 2015-2016 to provide over 36,000 books to schools and community organizations in Bridgeport. I had expected to give a brief talk on what we do in Bridgeport, but they turned the tables on me and showed that they were very much aware and appreciative of our efforts. Many of the (volunteer) Council Members are involved in the schools and are very passionate about improving childhood literacy.
We want to pass along their thanks to all of the people and organizations that donate the books to make this possible. We look forward to continuing and expanding our efforts in Bridgeport in the new year.
Bree Richmond's book drive is a success
So pleased that Bree Richmond, an 8th grader in Stamford, reached out to me to get some books for an upcoming book giveaway she has organized for the YMCA. Bree is involved in Kids Helping Kids, a great organization that encourages kids to initiate civic projects, then plan and execute them all on their own. She did an excellent job of networking with libraries and book organizations for this event and we are sure that it will be a huge success. Congratulations Bree and best of luck in future projects!
Great Delivery Day
Got a chance to meet Principal Sarhanna Smith at Read school while we dropped off over 500 books sourced from the recent book sales at Wilton and Cos Cob libraries. These libraries raise money each year by selling excess books from their stacks and donations from their patrons. Each year we are so happy when they contact us at Books4Everyone to take all their excess kids books. These books are usually in great condition and we have many, many prospective homes for them.
Our next stop was an introduction to Martha Pabon at Make the Road in Bridgeport. We provided books from Darien Book Aid and Greenwich Book Shed for their new bookshelves in their children's corner at their primary offices. Make the Road is an organization that builds membership with low-income and working class Latinos living in Bridgeport, CT and has become a powerful voice on immigrant rights, worker rights, public schools, LGBTQ justice, and more. They wanted to have a welcoming place for kids to hang out and read as their parents attend meetings.
Back to school with Thomas Hooker students
We had a great week with over 1,600 books delivered to 7 schools in Bridgeport. They will be used in libraries and classrooms or for various "Back to School" events this week with kids and their parents.
At Thomas Hooker, we welcomed the new Principal, Michael Mulford and got to catch up with their Literacy Coach, Sharell Richmond. These terrific kids got first pick at the books for posing in front of their mural, which shows the school's community garden located right out back by their playground.
Many thanks to the Greenwich and Darien residents who donated the books via the Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid.
The Child & Family Guidance Center loves books
We were very happy to make a repeat visit to Bridgeport's Child & Family Guidance Center to drop off about 10 boxes of books today. This is a wonderful organization that provides a wide range of services to families in the Bridgeport area.
Ann McCarthy, Director of Development & Communications and Chanelle Howell, Development Assistant did all the heavy lifting for us.
Their waiting room is very welcoming and full of bookshelves for the kids. Love what they did to their reception desk to make it more inviting!
Books were provided by some Cos Cob school teachers, Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid
Waltersville School has some wonderful murals
When we dropped off some books at Waltersville School for the summer Lighthouse Program we got a chance to take a peak at their fabulous murals
Books provided by Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid
Childhood Learning Centers shared their 'Read-a-thon' tree with us
We have so much fun every week providing free books to the preschoolers at the CLC classrooms in Stamford. This week, their teachers invited us in to see their new 'Read-a-Thon' tree in room 14. Each leaf represents a book read by a child in the classroom.
The teachers and children are thrilled with their books and we can't wait to see how many leaves they gather before the fall.
The St Roch YMCA kids took a field trip....
What a great treat we had on Friday at the Book Shed at the Greenwich Holly Hill Recycling Center! Jen Battista's class from St. Roch's YMCA walked over to learn a bit about recycling and to explore the kid's section of our book swap. Each of them had a blast picking out several books to take home.
The Book Swap is open 7am-noon on Fridays and Saturdays and receives an enormous number of gently used book donations from Greenwich residents. Each family can take home 10 books per visit and the excess books in good condition are distributed to senior centers and schools throughout Fairfield County.
2,500 kids are participating in Bridgeport's summer Lighthouse Program
Eighteen Bridgeport schools are hosting the Lighthouse Program this summer, which offers up educational, cultural and enrichment activities for over 2,500 kids. We dropped off books today for the kids to take home at Curiale, Roosevelt and Beardsley schools and hope to circle back to the others over the course of the summer. At Beardsley, the kids were headed out to a field trip to Port Jefferson, while at Roosevelt, we got some help hauling boxes from this group of scholars.
Love the quote in the background from Theodore Roosevelt, "Is is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed".
Books were sourced from a Greenwich High School project, Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid.
Greenwich Country Day School donates a "Library in a box"
Greenwich Country Day School has donated a wonderful set of brand new children's books. I think of this donation as a library in a box as each of the books included were some of my favorites for all ages. Most of them went to the Multicultural Magnet School in Bridgeport, while the PreK picture books found new homes with All Our Kin. A couple of the older choices are going to Bridgeport Military Academy.
Thanks once again to Jennifer Donnalley of Greenwich Country Day School for the wonderful donation of these books for two years in a row!
Greenwich High School Seniors found some great children's books for us
Five Greenwich High School seniors associated with AVID recently held a children's book drive for their senior year end project. AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is an excellent program sponsored by Greenwich Alliance for Education which provides academic and social support to first generation students, working towards closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.
After dropping off some books to Head Start, they donated over 500 books in great condition to Books4Everyone. We then distributed them in Stamford to Childhood Learning centers, Inspirica and DOMUS, where they were all greatly appreciated.
Many thanks and best of luck next year to Iris Bastien, Nicolle Caceres, Reika Ishii, Kyla Johnson and Liz Larsen. Special thanks as well to Julie Faryniarz, Executive Director of Greenwich Alliance for Education.
We got a lot of help at Julian Curtiss Elementary School
The PTA at Julian Curtiss School runs a very popular used book sale each year, which ensures that their kids have plenty of books to read over the summer. This year we were thrilled when they contacted us to donate all of the books they couldn't use, as this will ensure that many of the underprivileged kids we serve will have great books to read as well!.
The pick up was a breeze due to these very enthusiastic helpers who loaded up over 400 books in the car.
Many thanks to Valerie Rimmer of the PTA and Julie Faryniarz of Greenwich Alliance, who made the connection.
The books found new homes in Stamford at All Our Kin (which builds family childcare programs), Inspirica (a homeless shelter and family center) and DOMUS (where we maintain bookshelves at their community center).
Muffins for Mom, Donuts for Dad
Elizabeth Elias is the Home School Coordinator at Tisdale School in Bridgeport. It is her job to get the parents of Tisdale School students enthusiastically involved in their children's education. Her recent event called Muffin for Mom was a huge success, drawing 51 moms and their kids for a guided reading of Are You My Mother, along with Mother's Day crafts, lots of hugs, and yes, plenty of muffins.
Next step will be to do a similar event close to Fathers Day called Donuts for Dad. Three Cheers for Elizabeth's creativity!
We dropped off several boxes of books for her summer reading program which had been sourced from Darien Book Aid, Wilton Library and Greenwich Book Swap.
We found some books for the Teen Fathers Program at Bassick High
Last month at the Bridgeport Youth Summit, Books4Everyone provided a few tables worth of books for the teen attendees. It was an amazing day as the teen attendees loved the books and cleaned us out - especially targeting the SAT/ACT test prep and essay writing materials.
It was also a great way for us to meet a lot of educators and community organizers who stopped by the booth. We chatted with Hector Vasquez from Bassick High School who is a parent aid for the Teen Pregnancy Program. He works with expectant teen fathers and asked whether we could source some good books on the responsibilities surrounding fatherhood. We found some good materials at the Wilton Library sale and Darien Book Aid and hope it serves their needs. You can read more about the Teen Fathers program at their site.
Filling the library at New Beginnings Family Academy
Dropped off a few boxes at New Beginnings Family Academy, a PreK-8th grade charter school in Bridegport, and got to see their beautiful library. Will be heading back soon once we can fill a few boxes of Early Chapter Books and I Can Read 1,2,3 books for Jenna Cinelli, their Library Media Specialist. Diane Canveri and Candice Dorman showed us around as the library filled up with a class full of energetic young readers.
Books provide by Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid