Children in Lyman, Wyoming have a 4-day school week. Shortening the weekly schedule means the school district pays for one less day of electricity, climate control, transportation and staff. But with most parents working 5 days a week, kids from this rural community need a place to go.
“We see those children,” says Suzi Worthen, Branch Manager at the Lyman Branch Library. Suzi loves seeing young patrons flood through the library doors each Friday, but finds it difficult to keep up with the demand for new books.
Two years ago, funding for her library was cut. As the only full-time employee, Suzi frequently digs into her own pocket to purchase the new books and bestsellers that inspire her young patrons to read.
“You have to meet the reader where they’re at,” said Suzi, “and if it takes a superhero book to reach a little boy, so be it.”
When we contacted Suzi to let her know she had received a $1500 grant from First Book, thanks to financial support from Tata Sons and Tata Chemical, she could hardly believe it.
Kids & Tata employees enjoying the reading party at Lyman Branch Library.
Through the First Book Marketplace, Suzi used the grant to stock her library with recent titles, STEM books, award-winners and new series – ultimately purchasing 450 new books for the children of Lyman.
The library then celebrated their new collection by inviting the town to a reading party. Local families and employees from Tata Chemical gathered to stock the library shelves with new books and read aloud with local kids.
“It’s all been such a wonderful experience, and I’m so grateful to First Book and Tata for making it all possible.”
Want to bring books to your town? Click here to find out how to start your own Virtual Book Drive!
The post A Library Makeover in Lyman, Wyoming appeared first on First Book Blog.
Karen loves to draw. So when her teacher, Ms. Spezziali, told her class about the Purina® PAWty Challenge, this Garfield Elementary kindergartner was especially excited to participate.
The rules of the challenge were: Draw a pet (or an imaginary pet) for your classroom, name it and write a story describing the pet. Each child in the classroom also received an animal-related book.
Karen excitedly drew the cat she’s always wanted. Ms. Spezziali remembers Karen being thrilled with her picture. It was the writing element that challenged her.
Like 50% of the students in her South Boston school, Karen’s English was very limited. But she was determined to describe her dream pet perfectly, and worked with Ms. Spezziali to spell and sound out words that brought her drawing to life.
A few weeks later, Ms. Spezziali found out that Karen had won the Purina® Pawty Challenge and shared the good news with her students.
“Guess what? Someone from our class won the PAWty Challenge,” she said as she held up Karen’s picture for the class to see.
Her classmates cheered, and Karen, normally a very shy student, beamed. She was so proud to have won a special reading “PAWty” and new books for her classmates.
Karen’s teacher is amazed by how Karen blossomed through the Purina® PAWty Challenge. “She’s a lot more confident as a student now,” says Ms. Spezziali, “She knows she can do [her schoolwork] and tries really hard. My hope is that every child experiences a boost of confidence when they need it most and continue to work hard as a result.”
First Book and Purina® recently teamed up to host the Purina® Reading PAWty Challenge – a celebration of reading and pets. Participating schools in Boston and Baltimore received new books and other creative activities to engage students in reading, writing and drawing.
The post Imagine That! How One Girl’s Imaginary Pet Brought Books to Her Whole Class appeared first on First Book Blog.
On October 9th at North Kipling Junior Middle School in Etobicoke, Ontario, bestselling children’s author and illustrator, Nicholas Oldland read and signed copies of his book ‘Up The Creek’. More than 40 Tata employee volunteers from Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Communications and Tata Global Beverages (Tetley Tea) joined First Book and Oldland to present each Grade 1 students with three brand new books.
Students (and volunteers!) listened enthusiastically as Nicholas Oldland, read “Big Bear Hug,” a book they had read last year in class.
This Grade 1 student was proud to take home an original Nicholas Oldland drawing of the big bear hugging a bus.
Jaguar Land Rover Canada President, Lindsay Duffield, shared the importance of reading to open doors in the future.
“It’s an honour to serve the neediest in our communities and equip the next generation with the most powerful tool to overcome poverty – a love of literacy and learning,” said volunteer Jennifer Dickens, Tata Global Beverages.
“Reading with the students at North Kipling Junior Middle School was even more rewarding than I expected! The students and I each had our books in front of us, and we all read out loud, together. It was an experience I’ll never forget, and I hope the kids won’t either,” said volunteer Shannon Harvey, Jaguar Land Rover Canada.
Tata companies are also making a larger donation of books to Ontario. This is Tata’s third book donation of 10,000 books in Canada since 2012. Many thanks to First Book Canada, Tata Companies, and their incredible employee volunteers for making this event so much fun!
The post Tata Companies Share Their Love of Reading appeared first on First Book Blog.
