Thursday, December 23, 2010

Help Bring Hope to Haiti

A new school and orphanage is the goal of a 100% community-run effort to bring education to the children of Petionville, Haiti. A building, books, and other resources are needed. The school will serve hundreds of the village's poorest children.

The project is a partnership between OFPADHA (Organization of the Proud Patriots for Development of Haiti), a grassroots organization lead by Haitian community leaders, Hope of Haiti, a Mount Holyoke College student group, and Reader to Reader.

The Mount Holyoke College student group was founded by Haeinn Woo, a Korean-American student attending Mount Holyoke who was volunteering as a doula in a hospital in San Francisco de Marcoris, Dominican Republic when the devastating earthquake hit. Woo cancelled her trip back to the U.S. and headed to Haiti.

"My heart told me I should go where there are people I could help," says Haeinn. "The Dominican Defensa Civil offered me a ride and a friend donated $100 via Western Union. With that money I was able to stuff a big duffel bag with canned foods and medicine from a Dominican pharmacy."

In August, Haeinn returned to Haiti only to find the situation was desperate despite the hundreds of millions that had been pledged by the world community.

"Six months after the earthquake, the situation in Haiti didn't improve much since the earthquake. The international community pledged their aid to Haiti and Obama administration pledged $100 million to their reconstruction efforts. However, so far, only a fraction the aid money has reached the desperate in Haiti. People like you donated millions of dollars, but according to a Haitian source, less than half of these donations have actually reached their intended destination. And from my own observation of chaotic coordination of aid a week after the earthquake, such as donated food rotting in the airport storage while food riots were happening right outside the airport, there seems to be more than enough reasons to not just trust big aid organizations to be delivering our donations to the people who need it.

The big organizations seem to be hindered by inefficient bureaucracy and lack of workers on site. In contrast, OFPDH was established by the Haitian community itself and managed by trustworthy Haitian community leaders who know their own family and the community's needs best. Since these leaders are helping their own families, there is little worry for donations disappearing into the pockets of corrupted politicians. Supporting such organizations is the most helpful way to help Haiti."

Reader to Reader has begun fundraising to raise the $3,000 to buy land for the school and to purchase Creole-language books. We are also collecting school supplies, including pens, pencils, crayons, pencil sharpeners, and other arts & crafts supplies which will be brought to Haiti on January 5, 2011 by a team of five Mount Holyoke students who will be spending three weeks in Haiti working on the project.

As the U.S. partner in the project, Reader to Reader will be overseeing the financial management of the project and will work diligently to make sure every penny is spent effectively and appropriately.
You can help!

Donate online (please mention Haiti), or bring or mail funds or school supplies to Reader to Reader c/o Cadigan Center, 38 Woodside Ave,, Amherst, MA 01002.

For more information email info@readertoreader.org.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

School Supplies for Haiti!

Mount Holyoke College student Haeinn Woo with the first box of school supplies for the new Hope of Haiti project. The goal is to build a tent school in Meyotte, Haiti.

More supplies are needed!

The new project is partnership between Haitian grassroots group OFPADAH, Reader to Reader, and Hope of Haiti (a student group at Mount Holyoke College.) Together we are fundraising and gathering school supplies.

For more information email info@readertoreader.org.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Thanks Anthropologie!

Volunteer Ann Greene shows off some of the great titles we just received from the online Holiday Book Drive with Anthropologie.

Hundreds of books have already been delivered to us and more are coming!

Reader to Reader is pleased to partner with Anthropologie, a specialty lifestyle retailer that offers an uncommon selection of home and apparel merchandise, to help stock the bookshelves of our nation's neediest schools and public libraries.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Navajo Nation Book Drive Grows!

The mountain of books for the Navajo Nation Library Book Drive continues to grow! Our goal is to ship 13,000 books to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona this spring.

Here are details on how you can contribute:

The Navajo Nation Library Book Drive is collecting 100,000 books and 100 computers for the Navajo Nation Library. To date we have donated 25,000 books and 20 computers. The Navajo Nation Library serves the 27,000 sq. mile Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Please help us by following these guidelines.

1. Books should be in very good or excellent condition. (Books on Native-American subjects will be accepted in any condition).
2. Books on the subject of medicine or health should be no older than 4 years old.
3. CDs and DVDs accepted. No records, VHS or cassette tapes.
4. No magazines.
5. No textbooks.
6. No encyclopedias.
7. Donations of more than 10 boxes of books at a time should first contact us at info@readertoreader.org so we can make storage space arrangements.
8. People interested in donating computers should first contact us at info@readertoreader.org before making the donation. All computer donations must be pre-approved.

Books should be shipped to:

Navajo Nation Book Drive
Reader To Reader, Inc.
Cadigan Center – 38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Reader to Reader Receives Major Grant from May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

Kudos to Kat Libby for her hard work this summer doing grant writing. We are pleased to announce the receipt of a major grant from the May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust. The May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust supports children & youth; elders; the disabled & critically ill; disadvantaged adults & families.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Your donations have made a significant difference!

Dear Reader to Reader,

Thank you so much for the books that you donated to the Bellamy Library. Your donations have made a significant difference in the options our students have when selecting library books to read, and books to win as raffle prizes for successful Accelerated Reader scores.

Here at Bellamy, students who earn high scores on Accelerated Reader quizzes are entered into a library raffle. Every couple of weeks names are drawn and the raffle winners receive a donated book. Having these newer books available for prizes will definitely serve as a strong motivator for our reading incentive program. Students are already looking at the popular titles that they might win.

Thank you again for your commitment to the reading interests of our students and the generosity you have shown our library!

Happy Reading!

Tessa Grassetti
Bellamy Middle School Librarian
Chicopee, MA

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Reader to Reader Receives Carnegie Corporation Grant

A very special congratulations to Kat Libby for her hard work this summer doing grant writing. We are pleased to announce the receipt of a major grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The grant is the single largest in the history of Reader to Reader and was the result of Kat’s mighty pen!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Arms Full of Books!

We are so pleased to have hosted another group of Big Brothers/Big Sisters participants. Yesterday was our third group this month. It was a fun event and the kids picked out as many books as they could carry. Pictured here is Freya, who filled he backpack and had another armload as well. That’s what we like to see! A true book lover.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Book It Program Brings Book Shelves to Springfield

Reader to Reader is proud to be a sponsor of Square One’s Book It! program.

The program places book shelves with free children’s books throughout Springfield, MA, and gave away over 5,000 books in the first two months.

The book shelves are located in gas stations, early education and child care facilities, and a host of other locations that reach low-income families. Children are able to keep the books, and book ownership has a direct link on reading proficiency and academic achievement. Reader to Reader is providing hundreds of children’s books, and is pleased to join the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, Link to Libraries, and Health New New England as program sponsors.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Reader To Reader Partners With Anthropologie

This holiday season Reader to Reader is pleased to partner with Anthropologie, a specialty lifestyle retailer that offers an uncommon selection of home and apparel merchandise, to help stock the bookshelves of our nation's neediest schools and public libraries.

Visit Anthropologie online to purchase delightful children’s books that will be delivered directly to Reader to Reader.

Throughout December, select Anthropologie stores will be hosting reading hours for children, as well as book drives in support of Reader to Reader and other outstanding local charities—won't you join them in the merrymaking?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Books For Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County visited Reader to Reader yesterday and all the kids had a fun time picking out as many books as they wanted. They were delighted to have books that they could keep. We were delighted to have them visit, and that they were excited about books!






What could be better than your arms full of books!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Books Heading to Haiti

Nancy Marshall, a volunteer with First Church in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, is heading down to Haiti with 260 French-language children’s books that Reader to Reader collected.

The First Church has for a number of years supported a 6 story office/school/clinic building run by CONASPEH (Conseuil Natianale d’Eglises Sprirtuel d’Ayiti (National Council of Spiritual Churches of Haiti) in the Tabarre section of Port-au-Prince. The building was destroyed in last January’s earthquake. Thankfully, none of the school’s 600 pre-school through 12th grade students were in the building at the time of the quake, however, 14 nurses, several staff and others were killed.

The building is now being rebuilt, and Nancy Marshall provides an overview of the importance of CONASPEH’s library.

“The feather in CONASPEH’s cap was that it had a whole, real, library. In all the times I’ve been to Haiti, I never saw any other library anywhere, nor did I ever see a book store. Classes are taught by rote; i.e. the teacher has a book, from which (s)he teaches, but the students don’t have books. At first, the books I donated just stayed in the CONASPEH library, and were proudly shown off to visitors. It took a bit of careful teacher education and encouragement with the primary school principal to accomplish loaning each classroom teacher a basket of books for a month, and to let the youngsters peruse one a day as a reward, and then get a new bunch of books the next month. The youngsters love them and are so proud of the books! Also, selected high school seniors were taught and entrusted with “library duty” (in return for scholarship funding) during which time they sat at the library entrance and monitored students and adults who visited the library and could use any book, for as long as they stayed in the library. At first, as I’ve said, all of the books were housed in the Tabarre building, for show, but as the library grew and the teachers and students learned to love books, the pastors/teachers in the smaller outlying parishes began to beg for books. So the need for books is ever growing!

Books have not been allowed to go home with students or adults, because books are “hard to come by” and therefore, expensive. Even if a child promised to bring back the book, someone else might take it and sell it, because one can eat quite a few meals for the price of a book. It has been about 4 years since I’ve been bringing books-in-French to CONASPEH, and in that four years, books have gone from being “those revered things up on the top floor” to something they love and cherish and use. It will be a while before the lending library concept can be implemented in Port-au-Prince, but know that a growing number of children there are learning to love books because of CONASPEH, and because of Reader to Reader!

The 6 story building was leveled January 12 and it was weeks before all the bodies and rubble was sorted through and disposed of. We received a proud email in March telling us triumphantly that there were a number of books that were salvaged, so they at least had a small start on replenishing the library. From where else but Haiti would you hear such a story? Classes began again in April on the CONASPEH grounds in huge tents, and work is just now commencing on rebuilding the building, thanks to contributions from all over the US and Canada. Many people prefer to donate to CONASPEH and CRUDEM because they know the people and know the money is going straight into use by honest Haitian people, with no middleman agency.

If you can ever hear of a nursing program that is replenishing their French text books, those are a top desire – they’re expensive and hard to come by.

Our group will return to CONASPEH in mid-November 2010 and we always ask what they wanted us to bring in the 2 fifty pound suitcases we’re each allowed to bring --- guess what they said --- BOOKS!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU ! ! ! “

Nancy Marshall, PhD, OTR/L
For CONASPEH

Monday, November 8, 2010

Win This Beautiful Artwork!

Reader to Reader is raffling this beautiful, original watercolor, “Story Works Mouse,” by award-winning artist Wendell Minor.

Proceeds will benefit Reader to Reader’s effort to rebuild the Mesa Elementary School library, which was destroyed by arson on September 12, 2010.

This piece, with a value of $2,500, has been beautifully framed courtesy of Valley Frame Works.

Drawing will be December 15. The perfect gift for the holidays!

Tickets are $20 each and 3 for $50.

You can enter the raffle online by writing “raffle” on the online donation page. Tickets can be purchased by mail by mailing a check to:

Reader to Reader Raffle
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Avenue
Amherst, MA 01002

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A Fun, Free Event For Book Lovers Young & Old!

Join Us At The 21st Annual Children's Illustration Show

Please join us on Sunday, November 7, for a special Reader to Reader event honoring Wendell Minor for his devotion to literacy at the 21st Annual Children's Illustration Show.

This fun, free event features over 50 premier picture book illustrators and authors.

OPENING RECEPTION
Sunday, November 7, 4pm - 6pm

R. Michelson Galleries
132 Main Street
Northampton, MA
413-586-3964

(Admission is free)


Meet famous children's illustrators and join us as we present author and illustrator Wendell Minor with the Norton Juster Award for devotion to literacy.


Refreshments generously donated by Portabella Fine Foods, Whole Foods Market, and Big Y World Class Market.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Computers! Computers! Computers!

Kat Libby shows off a stack of computers that will be heading overseas to the Eno Boanimah Memorial Academy of Kasoa, Ghana.

The school was started in September of 2009, and Reader to Reader is helping the school set up a resource center which includes a library and computer lab.

The refurbished computers were donated by Amherst College and were refurbished thanks to the IT department.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Thanks for the Books!

Hi David,

Just got my books, carded them and covered them in mylar. You are truly wonderful. Children have already signed them out! You are a gift to underprivileged libraries. Keep up the good work!

All the best,

Lisa Mutter
Librarian
Henry J. Winters School
Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Navajo Children's Books for Mesa Elementary

Thanks to you we have purchased over 85 bilingual English-Navajo children’s books for Mesa Elementary! We are also shipping 100 books a day from our book drive. Thank you to everyone that is helping rebuild this school library that was destroyed by arson.

Interested donors are asked to contact Reader to Reader at 413-256-8595 or email info@readertoreader.org. Donors can also donate funds to Reader to Reader to buy books in the Navajo language and for other specialized needs they have. 100% of the funds donated for the book drive will be used to rebuild the library. Donations can be made online as well. (Online donations should note Mesa Elementary.) Please make checks payable to Reader to Reader and write “Mesa Library” on the detail line. Your donations will be tax deductible.

Donations of books should be sent to:

Reader to Reader
(Mesa Elementary Book Drive)
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thank You to Princeton University

Reader to Reader is pleased to announce a major donation of Native-American newspapers and periodicals from the Princeton University Library to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

The 14 boxes of newspapers contain a wide variety of Native American publications from all over the country, some dating back to the early 1960s.

The Navajo Nation Library, which served the 27,000 sq. mile Navajo Nation, carefully maintains an extensive special collection of Native-American books, periodicals, land records, and a 250-tape collection of oral histories.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Renovations on burned library begin Monday

(We are pleased to play a role in the rebuilding of the Mesa Elementary library.)

SHIPROCK, NM — Children barely tall enough to rest their chins on the windowsill peered through a glass pane Thursday into the library at Mesa Elementary School.

The library is empty, stripped of everything save steel skeletons of walls and markings on the concrete floor where structures once stood. The library was targeted by arsonists Sept. 12, and Principal Pandora Mike estimates the school lost 20,000 books.

Students and staff also lost something of the school's heart, Mike said. The school was closed for five business days while a Texas-based company removed debris from the library and smoke and water damage from the rest of the school.

"We all took it really hard," she said. "It was a hard experience for everyone."
The school opened to students eight days after the fire gutted the library. Administrators opened the damaged wing two weeks after the fire, but left a window uncovered so students could peer into the library.

"When we opened that wing, it was all quiet and I walked down here to check on the students," Mike said. "A kindergartner was looking through this window, tears on his cheeks, and he looked at me and said, Ms. Mike, where are all of our books?'"
That conversation ignited an attitude adopted by everyone involved in the clean-up process, Mike said.

"The construction team said we should put paper over that window," she said. "I said absolutely not. We want our kids to be able to see our progress. ...We are taking the stand that we are going to rally back, to not miss a beat."

Renovation of the library is expected to begin Monday, with a reopening tentatively scheduled for January, district spokesman James Preminger said. Clean-up and construction costs are covered by the district's insurance policy, but likely will top $500,000.

Replacing the books is a more emotional matter, Librarian Darlene Chase said. The process began when students returned books they checked out and had at home at the time of the fire.

During the first weeks after the fire, students walked down the road to the Shiprock Library, which is part of the Farmington Public Library system. Only students with valid public library cards, however, could take books home, Chase said.

Chase decided to open a temporary library in Mesa's computer lab, where she spread books onto table tops, their cheery titles like familiar friends to students.

A first-grade class visited the makeshift library Thursday for the first time. Chase instructed students to browse titles and pick two books each.

"We're able to follow the regular library schedule," she said of the temporary facility. "I thought, let's keep the kids reading. I felt bad that they couldn't get books for a while."

Insurance is expected to cover the cost of replacing about 15,000 books, Mike said. Other donations will make up the rest.

One donor, the Reader to Reader program based at Amherst College in western Massachusetts, has pledged $50,000 in books to help rebuild the library.

"Our goal is to get the books in the library better than they were before," Reader to Reader Director David Mazor said. "It's not to restore it to the way it was before, but to make it better."

The organization collects new and gently used children's books and ships about 700 books every week to Mesa, Mazor said. Amherst College students are packing books into boxes as quickly as they are donated. The organization also accepts monetary donations to help Mesa purchase books in the Navajo language.

Mesa Elementary already has about 5,000 replacement books, Mike said. It is planning a celebratory "reshelving" event once renovation is complete.

The fire was a blow to everyone involved, said Mike, whose son was the first to spot the flames Sept. 12. Mike, who lives nearby, rushed to the school in the early morning hours as volunteer firefighters were arriving.

Mike recognized many of the firefighters as former students.

"I saw the flames getting higher and higher," she said of the fire, which was reported at about 5 a.m. "There was devastation all over, and a lot of the firefighters took it personally because they came to school here."

Although the fire destroyed the library, firefighters were able to contain it to the single room, saving the rest of the school.

"We could have lost our school," she said. Books were ruined, computers were melted and most furniture and other structures in the library were unsalvageable.

The FBI continues to investigate the fire. Agents last month told school officials four juveniles were identified as suspects. No additional information is available, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said.

As renovation begins, students will remain welcome to peer through the glass and watch construction workers in action, Mike said. She wants the experience to emphasize the importance of books and the dedication of educators nationwide who are contributing to the rebuilding process.

"It's a blessing to be able to start over," she said. "It's comforting to know there are other (people) out there who love books."

By Alysa Landry The Daily Times
©2010 Daily Times

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mesa Elementary Book Drive Grows!

Thank you to everyone that has donated to help Mesa Elementary in Shiprock, New Mexico rebuild their school library. The library was torched by arson on September 12.

Our goal is to restock it better than ever!

Thanks to you we have already shipped over 800 books and have raised $1,200 which will be used to buy Navajo-language children’s books.

Reader to Reader has pledged $50,000 worth of books to rebuild the library. We will be sending books from our inventory and are seeking donations of new and gently used children’s books.

“It is extremely heartwarming that you are coming to our aid in our time of need,” said Mesa Elementary principal, Pandora Mike. “I am completely floored and it brings me to tears. Our hearts will be touched forever.”

Interested donors are asked to contact Reader to Reader at 413-256-8595 or email info@readertoreader.org. Donors can also donate funds to Reader to Reader to buy books in the Navajo language and for other specialized needs they have. 100% of the funds donated for the book drive will be used to rebuild the library. Donations can be made online as well. (Online donations should note Mesa Elementary.) Please make checks payable to Reader to Reader and write “Mesa Library” on the detail line. Your donations will be tax deductible.

Donations of books should be sent to:

Reader to Reader
(Mesa Elementary Book Drive)
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Three Cheers for Bettina!

We received a wonderful email from Bettina Kinlichinie, a graduate of our Navajo Mentoring Program. In 2008, Bettina traveled with a group of Navajo students to Amherst for a week of exploration of college life and careers. She also spent three years doing outstanding work in our online mentoring program. Her email highlights the lasting impact of this program.

Hello Mr. Mazor,

This is Bettina Kinlichinie from Navajo Pine High School. I was just looking at the Reader to Reader website and found the blog article about our trip there. Brought back a lot of fond memories. I cannot believe it has been so long since then!

I'm just writing to give you another thank you. As the months passed after visiting Massachusetts, I began to read a whole lot more. Actually now, because of my extensive reading, my new college career seems just a bit easier. I can comprehend the material I am reading from the textbooks.

Just to catch you up, I graduated from Navajo Pine as the valedictorian, was awarded the Chief Manuelito Scholarship, and accepted into Arizona State University. I'm studying agribusiness science (pre-veterinary).

Thank you again and forever more for making my educational goals possible.

Gratefully,

Bettina


Congratulations Bettina, we are so proud of you, and we know you will be a big success in college!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

****Breaking News!****An Urgent Call For Your Help****

For Immediate Release

Contact information:
David Mazor
dmazor@readertoreader.org


Reader to Reader Pledges $50,000 in Books to Rebuild School Library Destroyed By Arson

On September 12, the Mesa Elementary School Library located on the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico, was destroyed by fire and all its contents were lost. The FBI is investigating the fire as arson.

Reader to Reader has pledged $50,000 worth of books to rebuild the library. The nonprofit literacy organization based in Amherst will be sending books from its inventory and is launching a book drive to aid the school. The organization is seeking donation of new and gently used children’s books.

“It is extremely heartwarming that you are coming to our aid in our time of need,” said Mesa Elementary principal, Pandora Mike. "I am completely floored and it brings me to tears. Our hearts will be touched forever.”

Interested donors are asked to contact Reader to Reader at 413-256-8595 or email info@readertoreader.org. Donors can also donate funds to Reader to Reader to buy books in the Navajo language and for other specialized needs they have. 100% of the funds donated for the book drive will be used to rebuild the library. Donations can be made online as well. (Online donations should note Mesa Elementary.) Please make checks payable to Reader to Reader and write “Mesa Library” on the detail line. Your donations will be tax deductible.

Donations of books should be sent to:

Reader to Reader
(Mesa Elementary Book Drive)
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Sweetest Person, the Sweetest Song

A special thank you to singer Carly Simon for her donation of thousands of her children’s book and tape Mother Gooses Basket Full Of Rhymes.

This wonderful board book contains 15 children’s favorites, beautifully illustrated by Steven Haskamp. Embedded in the cover of the book is an audiocassette with a musical adaptation of each rhyme composed and performed by legendary singer-songwriter Carly Simon. Each rhyme is interpreted by Simon and her accompanist Teese Gohl in its own unique way.

Thank you Carly, you are the greatest!

Monday, September 13, 2010

We are most grateful for the support

Dear Reader to Reader,

Thank you for your donation of 300 children’s books to White Street School. They will be used as a part of our Back to School Literacy Celebration for our families, and every family that attends will now be able to take home at least one free book to stock family libraries.

White Street School is one of the ten schools in Springfield that has been designated as a Level 4, chronically underperforming school. As such, we have spent the summer, and continue still, to write a rigorous and innovative redesign plan to improve our teaching and learning to better meet the needs of our families and students. Our plan has a tenacious focus on literacy and families; this kick-off event is an integral part of the work. The donation of Reader to Reader has allowed us to meet the goal of a book for every family without taxing our Early Implementation Grant; thus freeing some of those funds for other important purposes.

We are most grateful for the support. The work of urban education in our current financial situation is challenging and not work that we work that we can do alone in schools. We need our community and we are indebted to Reader to Reader for the prompt and generous support.

Sincerely,

Deborah Lantaigne
White Street School
Springfield, MA

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Writers and the Readers

Famous author Norton Juster (The Phantom Tollbooth) spoke with the women in Reader to Reader’s Athena Interactive Literacy Program. Juster talked about his writing process and the importance reading to children from the earliest age.

He also presented each student with a copy of his children’s book The Hello, Goodbye Window to share with their children.

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program is a week-long workshop that works with pregnant and parenting teens in order to build their reading and writing skills, and to explore healthy eating and cooking. The young mothers in the program currently attend The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where they are working on getting their G.E.D.s so they can attend college.

Also on hand was noted literacy advocate Jim Trelease (The Read-Aloud Handbook) who spoke on the importance of parents in building early vocabulary and reading skills. “The parents are the most important professors a child will ever have,” he explained.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Summer Reading, Summer Fun!

Amherst College students Caitlin Scudder and Caroline Stedman held a literacy summer camp in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica as part of project Beyond el Campo. A fun learning experience was had by all.

The camp included reading workshops, field trips, and lots of arts and crafts.


Reader to Reader’s project Beyond el Campo builds community libraries in coffee-farming villages in rural Costa Rica. Beyond el Campo also runs literacy summer camps and adult book clubs in rural Costa Rica.

Friday, August 27, 2010

In the Studio

Athena Interactive Literacy Program students headed to Northfire Recording Studios to record poetry they wrote this week. The students made a CD to share with friends and family.

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program works with pregnant and parenting teens in order to build their reading and writing skills, and to explore healthy eating and cooking. The young mothers in the program currently attend The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where they are working on getting their G.E.D.s so they can attend college.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Athena Program Kicks Off With Fiction, Food & Fun

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program, Reader to Reader’s week-long workshop, kicked off with a series of writing and cooking classes.

This special program works with pregnant and parenting teens in order to build their reading and writing skills, and to explore healthy eating and cooking. The young mothers in the program currently attend The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where they are working on getting their G.E.D.s so they can attend college.

(Pictured Above) Chef Bill Collins teaches basic cooking skills and how to create quick and economical meals that are nutritionally balanced.

The program strongly emphasizes family literacy and art teacher Julie Zuchman (Pictured below) gave a wonderful class in board book making so that the young mothers can share a handmade book with their children.


The program brings together an exciting team of educators, writers, and artists that includes award-winning author Norton Juster (The Phantom Toll Booth) and author and literacy advocate Jim Trelease (The Read-Aloud Handbook).

The students spend their mornings exploring reading and writing in a variety of interesting settings, including recording poetry at a professional recording studio. They spend their afternoons with Chef Collins learning to cook healthy food for themselves and their children.

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program is sponsored in part by Peoples Bank. A special thank you to Chef Bill Collins (http://www.chefbill.com/) and Julie Zuchman for the generous donation of their time and energy.


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Reading Opens Your Mind!

Things are going well at the the new community library in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica.

The town library now has 738 books on its shelves and over 50 town residents have taken out library cards in the first three weeks.

Reader to Reader funds recently purchased a dehumidifier to keep the books dry in the humid climate.

The library has just received its official library stamp that will be going on all of the books, and all of the library cards. It says "Biblioteca Publica de Santa Cruz L.C." and has a picture of an open book which inside reads "Leer te abre la mente" (Reading opens your mind).

The Biblioteca Publica de Santa Cruz is a project of Reader to Reader’s Beyond el Campo which builds community libraries in coffee-farming villages in rural Costa Rica. Beyond el Campo also runs literacy summer camps and adult book clubs in rural Costa Rica.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Open for Business!

Reader to Reader's Cait Scudder reports on the opening of the new community library in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica)

Hola David,

I am happy to say that Beyond el Campo continues to advance smoothly and steadily. Right now, there is a family (mainly the mother and her 14 year old son) who are running the library, which is open to the community 3 days a week. She has told me so many times how incredible this experience is for her, to have something to do, to get out of the house-- a major problem in these kinds of rural communities is the lack of work for women. I am also so happy to see her son, Danny, really enthused about working here.

We now have an established system of library cards, a regular schedule, volunteers to act as the librarians, book stands, and a secure lock for the library. It is in its first stages, to be sure, but it is fully functional, and so far there have been over 50 people who have come into the library and checked out a book.

The computer we brought down is also going to very good use. All of the library cardholders are registered in the system-- Danny has been teaching Gladys how to use a computer, and she is so happy to be learning how to use it.

In the beginning of this week, I am in San Jose, and today am going to meet with the library sciences school of the Universidad De Costa Rica, to see about getting some help getting our library started. I am also going to look in to purchasing a dehumidifier to put in the library, seeing as the climate in Santa Cruz, especially during the rainy season, is very humid and we don't want the books to get destroyed. Later in the week

I am going to Santa Cruz to meet with Victor, Gladys, Danny, Sergio, and the rest of the library committee to see where we are, where we are going, and what are short and long terms needs and goals are.

I am so proud of this community and so thrilled to see the really remarkable progress we have made in less than a year. It is incredible.

Best wishes,

Cait

Monday, August 9, 2010

13 Boxes...Only 400 More to Go!

The third phase of the Navajo Nation Book Drive has begun. Our last shipment of 13,000 books and 11 computers has arrived in Window Rock, Arizona and we are now collecting for our next shipment.

Here are details on how you can contribute:

The Navajo Nation Library Book Drive is collecting 100,000 books and 100 computers for the Navajo Nation Library. To date we have donated 25,000 books and 20 computers. The Navajo Nation Library serves the 27,000 sq. mile Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Please help us by following these guidelines.

1. Books should be in very good or excellent condition. (Books on Native-American subjects will be accepted in any condition).
2. Books on the subject of medicine or health should be no older than 4 years old.
3. CDs and DVDs accepted. No records, VHS or cassette tapes.
4. No magazines.
5. No textbooks.
6. No encyclopedias.
7. Donations of more than 10 boxes of books at a time should first contact us at info@readertoreader.org so we can make storage space arrangements.
8. People interested in donating computers should first contact us at info@readertoreader.org before making the donation. All computer donations must be pre-approved.

Books should be shipped to:

Navajo Nation Book Drive
Reader To Reader, Inc.
Cadigan Center – 38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Grant Boosts Mentoring Program

Reader to Reader has been awarded a $7,500 grant from the Eugene A. Dexter Charitable Fund through the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. The grant supports the Springfield Mentoring Program which works with at-risk students in the Springfield Public Schools. The year-long program brings high schools students and Amherst College student reading mentors together to read and discuss books in order to foster a love of reading and boost academic achievement.

A special thank you to the Eugene A. Dexter Charitable Fund and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for this grant.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

On Their Way!


15,000 books and 11 computers are now on their way to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

The donation is the second in Reader to Reader’s multi-year Navajo Nation Library Book Drive, which has a goal of 100,000 books and 100 computers.

Today’s donation raises the current total to 30,000 books and 20 computers.

The books will not only build the resources at the Navajo Nation Library but also across the entire 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation. Books will be used in branch libraries in Kayenta and Ganado, at eight Boys & Girls Clubs across the reservation, and in local schools.

The next donation is scheduled for November and we are already packing our first boxes for that shipment.

A special thank you to David White of Exclusive Car Service for the use of his warehouse for storage and helping us load with his forklift. He saved us hours, and also our backs!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mentoring Program Student Visits Reader to Reader

St. Michael Indian School student Jaron Kee spent this past Sunday with Reader to Reader staff in Amherst. Jaron also met with Amherst College's Asst. Dean of Admission, Leykia Brill.

Jaron, an active participant in Reader to Reader’s Navajo Mentoring Program, is entering his senior year and will be working with Reader to Reader’s mentors as he prepares for college.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I'm so excited to share these titles with the students

Hello Reader to Reader,

I just wanted to thank you for all of the books you have donated to the P.E. Bowe School Library. I have been working as fast as I can to process as many books as possible. Again, I can't thank you and Reader to Reader enough! I'm so excited to share all of these current titles with the students come the fall.

Sincerely,

Midge Leighton
Patrick E. Bowe School Library
Chicopee, MA

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Thank You Julia Springer!

Our deepest thanks to Reader to Reader volunteer (and recent high school graduate) Julia Springer for raising over $1,800 dollars for the Beyond el Campo literacy project.

Beyond el Campo works together with local community members in rural Costa Rica in an effort to strengthen their access to books and literacy rate.

The project is building a much-needed public library in the coffee-farming village of Santa Cruz, employing literacy tutors and supplying books for summer reading camps.

Julia’s successful fundraiser, which was held at her home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, will help bring desperately needed resources that will benefit people of all ages in Costa Rica.

Three cheers for Julia!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Owning Books Raises Grades

The Medium Is the Medium

By DAVID BROOKS
The New York Times
Published: July 8, 2010

Recently, book publishers got some good news. Researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books (of their own choosing) to take home at the end of the school year. They did this for three successive years.

Then the researchers, led by Richard Allington of the University of Tennessee, looked at those students’ test scores. They found that the students who brought the books home had significantly higher reading scores than other students. These students were less affected by the “summer slide” — the decline that especially afflicts lower-income students during the vacation months. In fact, just having those 12 books seemed to have as much positive effect as attending summer school.

This study, along with many others, illustrates the tremendous power of books. We already knew, from research in 27 countries, that kids who grow up in a home with 500 books stay in school longer and do better. This new study suggests that introducing books into homes that may not have them also produces significant educational gains.

Recently, Internet mavens got some bad news. Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy examined computer use among a half-million 5th through 8th graders in North Carolina. They found that the spread of home computers and high-speed Internet access was associated with significant declines in math and reading scores.

This study, following up on others, finds that broadband access is not necessarily good for kids and may be harmful to their academic performance. And this study used data from 2000 to 2005 before Twitter and Facebook took off.

These two studies feed into the debate that is now surrounding Nicholas Carr’s book, “The Shallows.” Carr argues that the Internet is leading to a short-attention-span culture. He cites a pile of research showing that the multidistraction, hyperlink world degrades people’s abilities to engage in deep thought or serious contemplation.

Carr’s argument has been challenged. His critics point to evidence that suggests that playing computer games and performing Internet searches actually improves a person’s ability to process information and focus attention. The Internet, they say, is a boon to schooling, not a threat.

But there was one interesting observation made by a philanthropist who gives books to disadvantaged kids. It’s not the physical presence of the books that produces the biggest impact, she suggested. It’s the change in the way the students see themselves as they build a home library. They see themselves as readers, as members of a different group.

The Internet-versus-books debate is conducted on the supposition that the medium is the message. But sometimes the medium is just the medium. What matters is the way people think about themselves while engaged in the two activities. A person who becomes a citizen of the literary world enters a hierarchical universe. There are classic works of literature at the top and beach reading at the bottom.

A person enters this world as a novice, and slowly studies the works of great writers and scholars. Readers immerse themselves in deep, alternative worlds and hope to gain some lasting wisdom. Respect is paid to the writers who transmit that wisdom.

A citizen of the Internet has a very different experience. The Internet smashes hierarchy and is not marked by deference. Maybe it would be different if it had been invented in Victorian England, but Internet culture is set in contemporary America. Internet culture is egalitarian. The young are more accomplished than the old. The new media is supposedly savvier than the old media. The dominant activity is free-wheeling, disrespectful, antiauthority disputation.

These different cultures foster different types of learning. The great essayist Joseph Epstein once distinguished between being well informed, being hip and being cultivated. The Internet helps you become well informed — knowledgeable about current events, the latest controversies and important trends. The Internet also helps you become hip — to learn about what’s going on, as Epstein writes, “in those lively waters outside the boring mainstream.”

But the literary world is still better at helping you become cultivated, mastering significant things of lasting import. To learn these sorts of things, you have to defer to greater minds than your own. You have to take the time to immerse yourself in a great writer’s world. You have to respect the authority of the teacher.

Right now, the literary world is better at encouraging this kind of identity. The Internet culture may produce better conversationalists, but the literary culture still produces better students.

It’s better at distinguishing the important from the unimportant, and making the important more prestigious.

Perhaps that will change. Already, more “old-fashioned” outposts are opening up across the Web. It could be that the real debate will not be books versus the Internet but how to build an Internet counterculture that will better attract people to serious learning.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

60 Boxes from West Warren


Caelyn Adams, librarian at the West Warren Library, West Warren, MA, drove down with 60 boxes of books from their book drive. We thank everyone at the library for the generous donation.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Lots of Computers!

A special thank you to Amherst College for the large donation of Dell computers that will be donated to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona and to our new overseas project in Ghana.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

A Helping Hand, A Warm Smile

Reader to Reader volunteer Caroline Stedman spent last week teaching in the Costa Rica town of Playa Potrero. She and Reader to Reader's project Beyond el Campo director, Cait Scudder, will head to Santa Cruz at the end of the week to launch the literacy camp they are running together.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Reader to Reader Launches Ghana Project


Reader to Reader is pleased to assist Eno Boanimah Memorial Academy of Kasoa, Ghana. The school was started in September of 2009, and we are helping the school set up a resource center which includes a library and computer lab.

Books for the project are English-language for Kindergarten through Primary 6. Reader to Reader will also be donating refurbished Dell Pentium computers.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Congratulations Kyle!

Congratulations to Kyle Clark, the 2008 Navajo Mentoring Program Student of the Year, and now a graduate of La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, NM. Kyle spent the summer of 2009 in Reader to Reader’s Summer Enrichment Program and is heading to New Mexico State in the fall. He is back in Amherst this summer to prepare for college life. We are so proud of him and wish him all the best as he starts his new journey.

Friday, June 11, 2010

A Computer for Costa Rica

Amherst College student Caroline Stedman is bringing to Costa Rica a new Acer laptop for the library being built in the town of Santa Cruz.

With Beyond el Campo, Reader To Reader works together with local community members in rural Costa Rica in an effort to strengthen their access to books and over all literacy rate.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Mountain Grows!


Kat Libby with some of the 350 boxes of books for the 2nd phase of the Navajo Nation Book Drive. The book drive benefits the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Muchas Gracias de Guatemala


Dear Reader to Reader,

Thank you for the donation of Spanish storybooks. We appreciate it greatly as do the kids! What a wonderful organization you have created and important work you do.

Muchas gracias,

Linda Smith
Founder and President
Reading Village, Guatemala

(Reader To Reader loves Reading Village (www.readingvillage.org), an outstanding non-profit organization based in Boulder, CO that promotes children’s literacy in Guatemala. Please check them out.)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Beyond el Campo Gets Generous Book Donations

Reader to Reader’s Costa Rica project, Beyond el Campo, has just received generous book donations from the book store Libreria Francesa and from the University of Costa Rica.

Beyond el Campo is building a community library in the rural Costa Rica town of Santa Cruz and will be holding literacy programs, including a children’s literacy camp this July.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Celebrating Their Trip

On their last day in New Mexico, Amherst College students Kat Libby and Alex Strecker were joined by Navajo Mentoring Program graduate Kyle Clark for a trip up Sandia Peak.

Kyle is heading to New Mexico State University in the fall.

The towering peak is accessed by the world’s longest aerial tram and reaches 10,378 feet, offering a spectacular 11,000 square-mile panoramic view of the Rio Grande Valley.

It also offered a chance to make snowballs in late May.

The next morning it was back to Massachusetts, tired but happy from a great trip.

We look forward to seeing all our friends on the Navajo Nation again next year.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

A Chronicle of Success

A permanent display at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo New Mexico showcases all the ways that Reader to Reader has benefited their school. The board notes the thousands of books donated (now over 12,000), computer donations (30 Dell computers), the online Navajo Mentoring Program, the dictionary donations, the special collections (Native-American literature & Japanese manga), and the trip Navajo students took to Amherst, MA to learn about college and careers.

Navajo Pine's well-stocked library is a resource for students, teachers and even members of the community.

Monday, May 24, 2010

A Warm Send Off

The students and parents at St. Michael Indian School held a goodbye dinner for Reader To Reader staff on our last evening on the Navajo Nation.

After the dinner, students gave presentations on Navajo history, sang songs, and played native flute.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

At the Window Rock

Reader To Reader took time out to visit the beautiful Window Rock in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation.

Pictured are Amherst College students, Kat Libby and Alex Strecker. Who are spending their week assisting teachers at nearby St. Michael Indian School in St. Michaels, Arizona.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Not Just Books!

In addition to books and computers Reader To Reader also donates school supplies.

Pictured is Reader To Reader founder David Mazor and Navajo Pine High School shop teacher Robert Carrick standing next to thousands of dollars worth of shop equipment, including butane torches, propane torches and saw blades.

Reader To Reader was able to donate the supplies thanks to the generosity of Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products. The supplies came from the company’s Lenox division.

Teacher Robert Carrick at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo New Mexico does an incredible job of teaching welding, automotive repair and computer assisted drafting. He single-handedly gives his students a host of employable skills in an area with 90% unemployment. He is an extraordinarily devoted teacher who deserves accolades for all his hard work. He has personally donated thousands of dollars in equipment and supplies to the school for the benefit of his students.

A special thank you to Chuck Wahr, Vice President & General Manager, Worldwide Band Saw Business, at Lenox, for making this donation possible.

And a special thank you to Newell Rubbermaid for their incredible sense of corporate responsibility. This is a very fine company!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Books Bring Smiles!

Reader To Reader staff gave out a wide variety of books for the 5th and 6th grade students during our week at St. Michael Indian School in Window Rock, Arizona.

The books were given to the students for them to keep and to encourage them to read during their summer vacation which begins next week.

One thing was clear, kids love books!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Taking a Bite Out of Literature!

Students at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico, celebrated the completion of their three –month-long reading contest with t-shirts, posters, sweatshirts, and books which were generously provided to Reader To Reader by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. The rewards really spurred interest in the contest which featured Meyer’s popular books, as well as a slew of other vampire literature. The prizes and certificates were given out during Reader To Reader’s annual visit to the school.

Contest winners were:

Kyra Bahe: Grand Prize Winner
Brooke Curtis 9th
Rodson Sandoval 10th
Nikki Johnson 11th

Honorable Mention
Quintana Johnny
Latina Bia
Aaron Catron
Starr Wood
Johnathan Moore
Terrilynne Tso
Ashley Yazzie
Dianne Bryant
Shishonja Nez
Teralyne Begay
Mariah Mariano
Lindsay Brown
Al Cody Yazzie
Jaseanna Bitloy
Aaron Bull Sariah Kee
Lauraine de Guzman Mediavillo

Congratulations to everyone!