22,000 Books for Schools in the Springfield Area!

Our annual Spring Book Extravaganza, which is now in its ninth year, gave out over 22,000 new children’s and young adult books.

The books were provided by a number of leading publishers, including Scholastic Book Fairs, and Pioneer Valley Press.

The total value of the donated books exceeded $350,000.

Librarians, teachers and staff from a host of schools in Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, South Hadley, Sunderland, and West Springfield loaded up their cars, vans and pickup trucks until they could hold no more.

"There were teachers lines up ready to go when the doors opened for the three-day event,” David Mazor, executive director of Reader to Reader, said. “It’s always a very joyous event, as so many teachers are starved for resources for their schools. To be able to provide it for free is something we are proud to have done for almost a decade.”

A special thank you to the Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation for their sponsorship of this event.