Dear Friend of Reader To Reader,

I hope you enjoy this newsletter about the Reader To Reader Book Project. Our success is very much due to your donations of books, postage money, and most of all your generous spirit. Please forward this newsletter and help us spread the word.

I hope every one had a very happy holiday. We kept on chugging all through the holidays, shipping books to schools across the country and adding several new schools to our ever-growing list. This past month we expanded into Maine – aiding two schools in the northernmost towns of Caswell and Limestone (you know you're really way up there when a drive to the big city gets you to Caribou, population 8,400), and we are now in our first school in Appalachia with the addition of Kimball, West Virginia. Speaking of West Virginia, here is a letter I would like to share with you.

Dear Reader to Reader,

Yesterday we received a shipment of elementary books from your organization. As the school's Early Literacy Facilitator, I conduct a program called "Books for Breakfast." Each morning I take a little red wagon full of books to the cafeteria so that students may enjoy reading after they have finished eating breakfast. This morning my wagon was loaded with the books donated by your organization. The students were so thrilled to see new books that they had difficulty sitting still. Their excitement is proof that your program is meaningful and successful. Because our school library was devastated during a major flood, rebuilding a collection that appeals to students has been a challenge. Your group's donation is an important step in the process of promoting literacy at the elementary level.

Thank you so much for your generous donation of books. The love of reading that your gift inspires will contribute to a more literate and successful future for our students.

Sincerely,

Sheila Hall
Kimball Elementary
Kimball, West Virginia

Here's another letter from our friends at Navajo Pine High School on the Navajo reservation.

Dear David,

I just got a wonderful shipment of books. You have sent us the best shipment yet. What a steal. I love all the reference books. The encyclopedia is more current than anything we have. We can always use encyclopedias. The science reference will go out on display. We will make an open "v" display rack for it. All the other large dictionaries and reference books are on display--the shop classes make oak display racks for them. Everything was great. I really look forward to opening the packages. This has become a very personal connection for all of us. The teachers are using all the paperback books the library doesn't take. One of my students actually shook my hand when I gave him a paperback horror story. Some of the kids here never get to own a book. We really do appreciate everything you do for us.

Thanks and have a great New Year,

Carla Clauschee
Navajo Pine High School
Navajo, NM

Meanwhile, the requests for books keep coming…

Dear Mr. Mazor,

I am the librarian at Alfred M. Glickman Elementary School in Springfield. I have heard about your Reader To Reader project. I am asking for your help in getting books for our library.

Four years ago, our building was taken back from the Sabis International Charter School. At that time, when the school was reopened as Glickman we received no books or money for books to fill our empty library. Our shelves have been filled with discard books from all the elementary schools that got new libraries...Harris, Armory etc. We have also received many secondhand books from donations by families and teachers. The only new books we have purchased, came from monies raised by holding book fairs. Our non-fiction and reference section are out-dated, and we have a minimum amount of videos and computer software. Our children deserve to have a well-stocked library with current resources that reflect the curriculum that we teach. Our library should be able to provide materials that promote a love of reading, improve listening skills, foster visual literacy, and encourage the appreciation of fine literature. This is a small school with 275 students. 202 of these children come from low-income families. Our school also has the highest special needs population of all the city elementary schools at over 27 percent. If there is anything you can do to help us get new books for our library I know that the staff and the students would be very grateful.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Debbie Premont (Librarian)
Glickman Elementary School
Springfield, MA 01119

Dear Debbie,

You will receive books as of tomorrow. They will be delivered by one of our volunteers and you will receive a box of books every week from now on as we build up your library. We will also be sending you some videotapes and computer software. Please let me know how these books fit your needs so we can serve you better.

Warmest Regards,

David Mazor
Reader To Reader, Inc.

This is the work we do seven days a week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and we thank you for your support.

Until next month,

Sincerely,

David Mazor
Reader To Reader
http://www.readertoreader.org
email: dmazor@readertoreader.org

Please help us with a tax-deductible donation.

Here our just a few of our recent book shipments:

Shaw High School, Shaw, MS

• Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King
• Voyage Through The Universe (9 volumes)
• Renaissance Poetry
• The Ant Realm
• Miles Davis: The Early Years
• Kingdom of the Ice Bear
• 25 other books

SV Marshall High School, Lexington, MS

• Life and Love of Elephants
• The Search for Ancient Egypt
• North Pole/South Pole
• Van Gogh: Passionate Eye
• The Inferno
• On the Hill: The History of the American Congress
• 20 more

Kimball Elementary, Kimball, WV

• Charlotte's Web
• Daddy Longlegs
• Favorite Fairy Tales
• The Clever Carpenter
• The Class trip
• Michael Jordan
• The Curse of the Blue Figurine
• The Brainbox
• 40 more

Navajo Pine High School, Navajo, NM

• The Six Nations of New York
• Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico
• Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain
• The Mind
• Brave New World
• One Hundred Years of Solitude
• People of the Dancing Sky
• The House at Otowi Bridge
• 100 Great Operas
• 40 more

Marvell High School, Marvell, AR

• A Thief of time
• James Baldwin
• The Case for Mars
• Notes To Myself
• The Great Gatsby
• Sounder
• Dinosaurs: A Look Inside
• Impressionist Paintings
• We Come From the Sea
• 30 more

PS 178, Brooklyn, NY

• The Carrot Seed
• Arthur's Teacher Trouble
• Where The Wild Things Are
• Wiggle Like A fish
• Peter Pan
• Puss In Boots
• The Mystery of The Pirate Ghost
• The Black Stallion
• A Koala Grows Up
• Dinosaurs
• 65 more

Sigel Elementary, St. Louis, MO

• The Giving Tree
• The Cat in the Hat Came Back
• My Father's Dragon
• The Mixed
• The Great Treasure Hunt
• The Polar Express
• Never Talk To Strangers
• Charlotte's Web
• Where The Lilies Bloom
• 25 more

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

To be added to this newsletter please email dmazor@readertoreader.org