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.
People often ask whether we are still collecting books for Hurricane Katrina relief. Yes we are! One million books is just the beginning! Just this week I received a letter that makes it clear how much work we still have left to do.
Dear Mr. Mazor,
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Lafayette Elementary School was
part of Orleans Parish School Board. The school flooded and
sat unoccupied until the summer of 2006. The school opened on
Sept. 6, 2006 as Lafayette Academy Charter School for grades
Pre-K through 7.
Upon opening, Barbara Starks, a certified librarian, was
hired to oversee the creation of a library
in the empty space on the second floor previously occupied
by a library. Mrs. Starks spends most of her day cleaning the
room, applying for grants and detailing plans and inventory
to reconstruct the library. FEMA provided some new shelves and
several computers on Nov. 1, 2006 but not as many as needed. Every
book in the building was thrown away after the hurricane. The
only books available for use are several hundred donated by
charity groups and individuals.
FEMA has promised to provide new books, but there is no way to
know how many or when they will arrive. The school serves 750
poverty-stricken children, most of who are displaced since the hurricane. Obviously, every school needs a full-functioning
library. This is even more the case because most public libraries
are not open in New Orleans. Most of the children are living in trailers and lost all their home collections of books. The school
is their only resource for reading materials. In addition, LEAP
tests include a section on using resource materials,
including dictionaries, almanacs, and encyclopedias. It is imperative
that Lafayette Academy Charter School operate with a
full-functioning, complete library. WE NEED YOUR HELP!
I am a community volunteer who is trying to help Lafayette
Academy fulfill its goal of providing quality education
for the children of New Orleans. Please let me know if you can
donate and ship books to us.
Sincerely,
Lynn Loewy
Dear Lynn, Yes we can! The first shipment is in the mail and lots more
will be coming. We have lots more to do for Hurricane
Katrina relief and we are pleased to welcome in Lafayette Academy.
In other news, an old friend of Reader To Reader,
Marian (the Librarian) Gurlen, wrote about returning
to West Tallahatchie High School in Webb, Mississippi after
a two year absence. She was pleased to find Reader To
Reader’s continuing positive impact on her school.
Dear David,
Thank you so much for the shipment of books we received
yesterday. These books will be put to use just as soon as I
can get them processed and on the shelf.
Our students are in the process of selecting books for
Reading Fair projects and the fiction included in the shipment
will immediately be put to use. I am back as librarian at WTHS
after a two year absence, and I was delighted to see that we still receive generous donations from Reader To Reader. Your
organization has meant so much to the students and faculty here,
and we truly appreciate what you have done for us. In the school
year 2003-2004 (the last year I was here), I placed over 300
titles from you on the library shelves and used other books for
gifts to students and placement in classrooms.
The generous donations we have received from Reader To Reader
will allow us to discard fiction copyrighted in the 1930s, 1940s,
and 1950s.
We truly appreciate everything you do! Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Marian Gurlen
(Marian the Librarian)
West Tallahatchie High School
Webb, Mississippi
The heart of our success is in creating a long-term, free, resource lifeline. It’s not about one box and then we move on, it’s about many, many boxes in order to have a lasting impact. It helps them replace those books “copyrighted in the 1930s, 1940s,
and 1950s.”
Speaking of positive impact, you financial donations have a
tremendous impact and make it possible for us to keep
Reader To Reader running. It is not too late to make a
tax-deductible donation for 2006! All donations dated in 2006
will receive a tax receipt for 2006.
Mailing address for monetary donations and books:
Reader To Reader
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Avenue
Amherst, MA 01002
Or donate via credit card online.
Until next month,
Sincerely,
David Mazor
Executive Director
Reader To Reader
http://www.readertoreader.org
email: dmazor@readertoreader.org
