Nonprofits help Queens school libraries

BY MAYA ORR

Monday, January 11, 2010 6:36 PM EST

Children in 17 Queens schools can now read to their hearts’ content, thanks to a donation of 75 books per school from two nonprofit organizations – Pitney Bowes Foundation and Reading is Fun (RIF).

In addition, the groups have also donated bookplates, a standing bookshelf and a resource kit, which contains suggestions on how to maximize the potential benefit of the materials.

“The support from the Pitney Bowes Foundation and RIF truly helps further our core initiatives of improving literacy and education at schools all across the city,” said RIF Coordinator at the New York Department of Education Denise Sontag. “By providing these free resources to our students, it gives them the opportunity to engage themselves in reading practices that can ultimately lead them down a successful path.”

According to RIF’s representative Matt Saler, there are many schools in the New York City area that have RIF programs and the decision of what schools to donate the books to was largely based on what schools needed them the most.

Some of the schools that received books included P.S. 192 – The Linden (Q192) in St. Albans, J.H.S. 231 in Springfield Gardens and P.S./M.S. 42Q in Arverne. The other fourteen schools are in Corona, Far Rockaway, Jamaica, Long Island City, Rockaway Beach and Rockaway Park. Eight schools outside of Queens also received donated books.

The books, which were sent at the end of December and have arrived at the schools. According to Saler, feedback has been positive, and kids are enjoying the availability of the new books. “Sometimes these are the only books kids [can get],” Saler said. “So they love it [and] the local librarians and school librarians love it.”

The resource kit included in the donation explains that the theme of the books is communication, whether it focuses on conversation, communication technology, communicating through the arts or using writing to express oneself. It also contains activities to motivate readers.

The varied collection includes books that contain information and examples from famous communicators such as Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Other books like Loudmouth George And The Sixth-Grade Bully by Nancy Carlson are more fictional guides. There are poems in the collection as well as books that explain how things (such as a computer, for instance) work.

“[It’s] about the joy of reading,” explains Saler. “We’re making reading fun – not a chore.”