Children's Books Arrive in Barbados

A shipment of children’s books have arrived in Barbados. The books are a product of a Reader to Reader book drive held by the School Leadership Team of PS 54 - Samuel C. Barnes School in Brooklyn,New York.

Bayleys Primary School is converting an old music/storage room into the school’s first library and we are pleased to lend a hand.

6,000 Books for Children in Bridgeport, CT

Thank you to all the book donors and the great WRSI Radio team for making our 2018 "Fill the Book Bus" event a success!

We collected over 6,000 thousand children's books that are going to children in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

For the past decade, Reader to Reader’s Bridgeport Literacy Initiative has donated tens of thousands of new and used books to the children of Bridgeport.

WRSI Fills the Book Bus for Reader to Reader!

A special thank you to WRSI - 93.9 The River for their Fill the Book Bus book drive for Reader to Reader.

Thank you to everyone at WRSI for helping us collect over 4,000 books!

And thank you to all the famous children's authors that came read to children at the event, including Jane Yolen,  Jeanne Birdsall, and Lisa Yee.

And our special mystery guest author, Mo Willems, who read from his latest book, Sam, the Most Scaredy-cat Kid in the Whole World, which was hot off the presses!

Thank You for Filling the Book Bus!

Thank you to everyone that helped fill the Book Bus with thousands of books!

The books will be donated to schools and libraries that sorely lack books, and every book will bring a smile to a child.

This was our second year filling the book bus and we got double the number of books that we received last year.

A special thank you to WRSI and the Eric Carle Museum for making the Book Bus book  drive possible.

Help Us Fill the Book Bus!

What’s the Book Bus? It’s a school bus that we – with your help – fill with children’s books! The books are then sorted and distributed to places that need them, like Springfield and Holyoke public schools and libraries, and Native American reservations.

We filled the Book Bus last year, will you help us fill it even more this year? It’s easy!

– Bring used or new children’s books to the Eric Carle Museum between 10 and noon on Saturday 9/12.
–  Put them on the bus!
–  Every kid that brings books gets free admission to the Carle that day!

To make it even more fun our friend Jarrett J. Krosoczka is celebrating his 30th(!) published book, It’s Tough to Lose Your Balloon. Meet Jarrett, get a book signed and even watch the new short film of his book Peanut Butter and Jellyfish.  Jarrett’s appearance starts at 11 am.

Bring a book, a bag of books, bring a whole library – we want as many books as we can get! New, used, all are welcome.

A special thank you to WRSI and the The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

A Huge Thank You for Southington Public Schools

Thank you Southington, Connecticut!

On Saturday, school counselor Rita Stearns (and her team of incredible volunteers) delivered thousands of books to Reader to Reader -- the result of a book drive supported by students, families, teachers, and staff at the Southington Public Schools.

Southington Public Schools brought 100 boxes of books to Reader to Reader-- all carefully sorted by grade level.

Reader to Reader book drives collect tens of thousands of books each year and deliver them to schools, libraries and shelter in low-income communities.

If you are interested in holding a book drive, please visit http://readertoreader.org/lend-a-hand/book-drive for details.

Thank You Berkshire Country Day School!

Thank you to the fabulous 5^th graders at Berkshire Country Day School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts for their very successful book drive!

In addition to collecting 20 boxes of books, the students turned the book drive into a classroom learning experience through presentations that the students did about Reader to Reader based on their research.  The highlight was a question and answer session with Reader to Reader founder David Mazor.

“What a bright, energetic group of students,” Mazor said. “It was such a pleasure to speak with them, and to congratulate them on the outstanding book drive.”

The Power of One!

A special thank you to Shane Chinburg and Ben Chamberlain for the mountain of books from their Power of One book drive held in Durham, New Hampshire. The two are students at Oyster River High School.

Thank You Whole Foods!

A special thank you to Whole Foods Market in Hadley, Massachusetts for the book drive they are running from June 3-9 on behalf of Reader to Reader.

Lots of wonderful books are being collected!

Going to Whole Foods? Bring a children’s book and drop it off on your way in!

Give Your Books a New Home! Whole Foods Market in Hadley and Reader to Reader Team Up For Literacy

• Book drive runs June 3-9, collecting at Whole Foods Market in Hadley, MA.
• New or gently used books for grades K-5 are the strongest need; also accepting books for grades 6-12.

**For immediate release**

May 9, 2013

HADLEY, MASS -- If your kids have outgrown their books, give them a new home! Whole Foods Market in Hadley is holding a book drive to support Reader to Reader, a literacy nonprofit based in Amherst that donates new and gently used books to under-resourced schools and libraries across the country.

The book drive will run June 3-9. You can bring your new and gently used books for grades K-12 to the Hadley Whole Foods Market. There is a strong need for K-5 books as well as any nonfiction, particularly in the sciences. If you have several boxes or need assistance, please call Reader to Reader’s office at 413-658-5572 to set up a time to drop them off.

The need is great. According to the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, in middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 13 to 1. In low-income neighborhoods the ratio falls dramatically to 1 book for every 300 children.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Whole Foods Market to get more books in the hands of children,” says Reader to Reader’s executive director David Mazor. “So many communities across the country are in desperate need of books.”

Reader to Reader staff will be onsite at Whole Foods Market on Wednesday June 5, 2:30PM-5PM to answer your questions about the organization and its programs.

About Reader to Reader
Reader to Reader, Inc. is dedicated to expanding literacy and learning opportunities for the nation's most chronically underserved and vulnerable communities, including inner-city schools, Native American reservations, and poor rural towns. Learn more at their website: www.readertoreader.org.

Reader To Reader Reaches 100,000 Book Goal for Navajo Book Drive

AMHERST, MA--15,000 books are on the their way to Arizona and New Mexico. Reader To Reader, an Amherst-based nonprofit literacy organization, has reached its goal of donating 100,000 to the Navajo Nation Library located on the Navajo reservation in Window Rock, Arizona.

The book drive was launched in July of 2009 and ever since then Navajo Nation Library officials have traveled to Massachusetts twice a year to drive a large U-Haul truck full of books back to the reservation.

Reader to Reader staff and volunteers take six months collecting, sorting and boxing up books for each shipment. It takes the Navajo officials five days to drive back to Arizona spending twelve hours a day behind the wheel.



When the truck gets to Arizona it will deliver books to schools, community centers, a correctional facility, Head Start programs, Boys & Girls Clubs, and add thousands of new books to the Navajo Nation Library. It will also deliver some of the books to schools on the Hopi reservation.

“Everyone is very excited to have met our goal,” David Mazor, founder and executive director of Reader to Reader says. “It’s taken four years and there have been lots of wild things happen along the way, including flat tires and driving through Hurricane Sandy.

Last fall’s shipment was loaded on the day Hurricane Sandy hit and the truck had to shelter for the night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania due to a curfew. Monday’s shipment was on a decidedly sunnier day. The need for books is profound, as there are no book stores on the reservation and the Navajo Nation and its small branch library are the sole libraries for the entire 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation. The branch library was completely stocked with books donated by Reader to Reader.

David Mazor, staff person Kathryn Libby, and four Amherst College students are flying to Arizona on Friday where they will meet the bus and help with the unloading and delivery.

Even with the latest shipment of 15,000 books and a batch of refurbished computers, Mazor says the book drive is far from over. Now that Reader to Reader has reached 100,000 books the new goal is 200,000 books.

“Irving Nelson, director of the Navajo Nation Library, and I really enjoy working together and we both want to keep it going,” Mazor says. “We are grateful to everyone that has donated because without them it would not have been possible.”

People interested in donating book can email info@readertoreader.org or call 413-256-8595.

Hooray for East Hartford Rotary!

A special thank you to the East Hartford Rotary in East Hartford, Connecticut for their successful “Buck in a Book” book drive that collected 400 books and fundraised $400 in support of Reader to Reader literacy programs.

East Hartford Rotary’s president Sheryl O'Connor presented the books and a check for the funds at their weekly Rotary luncheon.

The “Buck in a Book” program helps Reader to Reader gather the resources needed for donation in low-income communities. In addition, it helps pay for classroom supplies and classroom sets of books.

Thank you Sheryl and all the members of the East Hartford Rotary for helping us launch this new program.

Thank You Crossroads Academy!

The work done by Reader to Reader would not be possible without all the wonderful book drives conducted by schools, churches and synagogues, civic groups and individuals.

A special thank you this week goes out to Crossroads Academy in Lyme, New Hampshire. Their book drive conducted by the second grade class collected a truckload of wonderful children’s books that are now headed for schools in low-income communities.

Well done!

Chinle Head Start Building Destroyed by Fire

Reader to Reader has launched a supply drive to help replenish materials lost in a January 3rd fire that consumed the Navajo Head Start's Chinle Agency warehouse on the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona.

It is still being determined whether the fire was the result of arson.

The Navajo Head Start Program, Chinle Agency, has a broad has an important role across the 27,000 square-mile Navajo nation. It is funded to serve 883 Home Based Programs with an enrollment of 228 children and 33 classrooms serving 655 children. These programs are operated in 17 Navajo Nation Chapter communities.

Reader to Reader is sending hundreds of books and is also collecting the following school supplies:

-New children’s books for pre-K ages
-Crayons/Markers/Colored Pencils
-Pencils
-Pencil Sharpeners
-Construction Paper
-Pipe cleaners
-Glue sticks
-Tape
-Popsicle sticks
-Pompoms
-String
-Straws
-Beads
-Cotton balls
-Googly eyes
-Scissors
-Rulers

Anyone that would like to contribute supplies can send them to:

Head Start Supply Drive
c/o Reader to Reader
Cadigan Center
38 Woodside Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002

Please help!

Books & Computers Arrive at Navajo Nation!

After battling Hurricane Sandy in order to bring over 16,000 books and 12 computers donated by Reader to Reader to schools on the Navajo Nation, officials and volunteers from Reader to Reader and the Navajo Nation Library unloaded 400 boxes after completing the 5-day 2,400 mile journey on Monday.

The books and computers will be distributed to 16 schools on the Navajo and Hopi Nations.

In addition, thousands of books will be added to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona, and their branch library in Kayenta, Arizona.

Hundreds of books are also being donated to Martha Shelley, First Lady of the Navajo Nation, for her outreach work across the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation.

Reader to Reader founder David Mazor flew in for the unloading.

“I want to commend Irving Nelson for all his hard work. He is quite the hero. He drove through 1,000 miles of hurricane with the truck blowing all over the road, and encountered snow squalls and waves of driving rain, yet nothing stopped him.”

To date the Navajo Nation Book Drive, a partnership between Reader to Reader and the Navajo Nation Library, has delivered over 65,000 books and 60 computers to schools and libraries on the Navajo and Hopi Nations.

Navajo Nation and New Mexico to sign ‘MOU’ for Education

Navajo Post
Aug 14 | by: NP Field Reporter/NM

ALBUQUERQUE – On Tuesday, the NM Governor, Susana Martinez visited Mesa View Elementary School in Grants and Indian Hills Elementary School in Gallup to distribute reading books to incoming first graders and read to students.

Susana Martinez said, while addressing the crowd, “ With this MOU we send a clear message to the Native American student, you count you are important.. and most of all we believe in you”

President Ben Shelly also spoke and said, “ Our culture is our identity to the world and our language is our fingerprint” and “ I am happy that Governor Martinez and (NM Education) Secretary Skandera have taken on the vision of our people”

The Governor also signed a memorandum of understanding between New Mexico Public Education Department and the Navajo Nation, which will allow for data sharing between the two governments with the aim of improving education results for Navajo students.

On Monday, Martinez distributed books and read to students in Albuquerque and Belen. The Governor Communication director said, she is stressing the importance of reading during and after school, and the books are designed to help students have something to read at home with their family or friends in an effort to overcome the effects of the “summer slide” – skills lost while kids are out of the classroom during the summer months.

In June, Governor Martinez announced that the state had purchased over 30,000 reading books to be distributed to every incoming first grade student in New Mexico.

The Navajo Nation in general has been getting donated books from various non profit organizations, For the past three years, Navajo Nation Libraries have been flying across the country to Massachusetts to pick-up book donations from Reader to Reader, a Massachusetts literacy organization that has donated over $1 million in books and computers to schools and libraries on the Navajo Nation. The twice a year trips brought back over 30,000 books and 42 Dell computers this past year alone.

The proposed Navajo Nation annual budget for 2012-2013 will slash theses trips from two to one, and will also reduce the size of the truck in the sole remaining shipment from 26-foot to only 17-foot. The change in truck size will cut that shipment in half due to the lower weight limit of the truck.

Reader to Reader founder David Mazor said this budget reduction will mean 25,000 fewer books will be donated by his organization this coming year to meet the needs of the children and adults on the Navajo Nation, “We will be unable to send thousands of books given out by the First Lady Martha Shelly in her important literacy work, thousands of new books to fill the shelves of the Navajo Nation Library and their branch library in Kayenta, and also the thousands of books for schools, chapter houses, correctional facilities, community centers, boys & girls clubs, and substance abuse centers.”

15,000 Books, Computers, on the Way to Navajo Nation

Seven months of book collecting, including hundreds of hours sorting and packing boxes, came to a conclusion with a 3-hour frenzy of loading, as the latest shipment of books headed off to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

The shipment of 15,000 books and 21 computers will benefit libraries, schools, community centers, senior centers, and correctional facilities all across the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation.

“We are so excited here at the high school we can hardly contain ourselves,” said Susan Clement, principal of St. Michael Indian High School in St. Michaels, Arizona. She adds that she is expanding her school library into an additional room in anticipation of the 69 boxes of books and 5 computers that will be coming from Reader to Reader for the library. An additional 17 computers will be used to build a new computer lab for the school.

The fourth shipment in Reader to Reader’s Navajo Nation Book Drive, the donation brings the total donation to 60,000 books to date. Reader to Reader’s ultimate goal is 100,000 books.

Irving Nelson, the director of the Navajo Nation Library, flew to Hartford, Connecticut and rented a truck in order to transport the books on their 5-day journey to the Navajo Nation. His 12-hour days of driving are shared with library employee Everett Tsosie.

“We are so pleased to work in partnership with the Navajo Nation Library in order to bring this valuable resource to the people of the Navajo Nation.” Said David Mazor, Reader to Reader’s founder. “This donation has a value of over $200,000 and working together we have been able to provide this rich resource very economically.”

Based in Amherst, Reader to Reader is a global literacy organization that has donated 5 million books across the United States and in 14 countries.

Hooray for Brownie Troop 506!

Congratulations to Brownie Troop 506 of Vienna, Virginia! The troop had a successful Reader to Reader Book Drive on behalf of Brookings Elementary in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Brookings was heavily damaged by a tornado in June 2011 and lost all their books. The Brownie troop adopted the school as their service project with great results. Here are a few words from their troop leader.

Hi David,

This is Christie with the brownie troop in Virginia. The girls have just completed their book drive for Brookings Elementary school. Through friends, church and their school, they collected 6 cases of books for Brookings. They took a photo of the troop with the books and wrote a letter to go in each box.
This was a great project for the girls. And because you paired us up with Brookings, I was able to go to the internet and pull video of the tornado and also pictures of the school afterwards. The girls had so many questions and we had an awesome discussion about a multitude of related topics. Thank you for opportunity to help them carry out their first “on their own” service project.

Thanks so much!
Christie Radomsky

It’s a new year! Hold a Reader to Reader book drive!

Want to help children that need books? Hold a Reader to Reader book drive and help bring thousands of books to kids in low-income communities across the country.

It’s easy!

Just use these handy book drive guidelines book drive guidelines.

Bement Students Collect 2,000 Books!

A special thank you to the students at the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, for their book drive that collected over children’s 2,000 books.

Reader to Reader will donate the books to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

The library serves the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation. The books will bolster the library’s children section and will also be used for outreach across the reservation.

“I want to congratulate the children of Bement School for all their hard work,” said Reader to Reader founder David Mazor. “ They did an incredible job of collecting and sorting the books. These books will be enjoyed by so many children on the Navajo Nation.”