$500,000 in New Books to Native American Schools

(Photo: Lincoln Elementary students in Gallup, New Mexico get new books on Halloween)
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By SCOTT MERZBACH
Staff Writer/Daily Hampshire Gazette
Tuesday, November 01, 2016

AMHERST — Children of Navajo Nation and Hope Nation who attend schools in New Mexico and Arizona are receiving $500,000 worth of new books following a donation from an Amherst-based literacy organization.

A total of 52,126 books are being shipped directly to the various school districts in the Southwest for distribution, said David Mazor, founder and executive director of Reader of Reader.

“We are pleased to make this large donation in order to get as many books into the hands of children,” Mazor said.

The books, which are of general interest for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, are provided through Reader to Reader’s partnerships with Scholastic Corporation, which runs the Scholastic Possible Fund, and Pioneer Valley Press, Soho Press and other publishers.

Among the school systems receiving the books are the Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools in Gallup, New Mexico, the Central Consolidated Schools in Shiprock, New Mexico, the Ganado Unified School District in Ganado, Arizona, the Hopi School District in Keams Canyon, Arizona and the Tuba City Unified School District in Tuba City, Arizona.

Providing books for Native American schools represents a long-term commitment that has been taking place since 2005, Mazor said. In the past decade, Reader to Reader has donated more than $3 million in books.

The Gallup-McKinley schools will get 14,000 books, which are already being given out to students, including at Lincoln Elementary in Gallup.

“These books will have a profound impact on the children in our district,” Mary Lindenmeyer, library media coordinator for the schools, said in a statement.

In addition, the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona will receive over 21,000 books.

Reader to Reader also donates books to the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota and the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and this week began working with the Standing Rock Reservation after its members asked for help in stocking books in the library of the McLaughlin, South Dakota campus of Sitting Bull College.

Literacy Organization Donates Thousands of Books to Navajo and Hopi

Katherine Locke, Reporter 
Navajo Hopi Observer

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - School children on and around Hopi and the Navajo Nation received tens of thousands of new children's books over the holidays to take home thanks to Reader to Reader, a Massachusetts literacy organization.

Reader to Reader works on improving literacy in Arizona and New Mexico, across the United States and internationally.

"We pleased to make this large donation just before the holidays in order to get books into children's hands that they can enjoy over winter vacation," said David Mazor, founder and executive director of Reader of Reader. "We had the option of donating these books to any school districts in the country but we selected the districts that are on and near the Navajo and Hopi Nations as part of our ongoing support of literacy for Native children. We especially thank our partner Scholastic Inc. for the mountain of books they have donated."

Mazor said the organization was contacted about a dozen years ago by a school on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

"We started helping them build their school library and over time it grew to be a bigger effort with more schools and school districts," he said. "It just got bigger and bigger and bigger."

Over the past decade, Reader to Reader has donated over $2.5 million in books, computers and school supplies to school it has worked with on or near the Navajo Nation and the Hopi reservation.

"We help supply a lot of different things depending on the needs of the school," Mazor said. "We reach a whole lot of different schools that range from one end of the Navajo reservation to the other and also on the Hopi reservation."

Among the school systems receiving thousands of books are: Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools, Gallup, New Mexico; Central Consolidated Schools, Shiprock, New Mexico; Ganado Unified School District, Ganado, Arizona; and Hopi School District, Keams Canyon, Arizona.

"We are so happy to be a recipient of Reader to Reader's and Scholastic's generosity," said Mary Lindenmeyer, library medial coordinator for Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup, New Mexico. "They are such an amazing organization that has had a profound impact on the children in our district."

In all, Reader to Reader is donating 17,000 new books for grades kindergarten through grade 12 totaling $200,000 dollars. The books are provided by Reader to Reader through its partnerships with Scholastic Corp. through The Scholastic Possible Fund, Pioneer Valley Press and several other leading publishers.

The organization works with the publishers for what would be of interest or appropriate to where the donation is going because it donates books all around the world and every place is different in what the kids need and what the kids are interested in. The donations sometimes include textbooks, too.

Mazor said part of the reason for founding the organization was the critical shortage of books in lower income communities around the country and the world.


"I wanted to directly address that problem," he said. "Books just open up and give you a doorway to unlocking imagination. On a practical level, the better you read, the better your job prospects are when you grow up, but also, the more you'll know about the world. Reading itself is such a pleasurable experience that when kids get more books in their lives, they enjoy that."

© Copyright 2016 Western News&Info, Inc.

Working with schools on the Navajo and Hopi Nations

During a week-long visit to both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Nation, Reader to Reader's executive director David Mazor met with school officials from a host of schools across the 27,000 square-mile region.

One of the schools new to Reader to Reader is Nizhoni Accelerated Academy in Tuba City, Arizona, a town of 8,000 in the Painted Dessert area on the western end of the Navajo Nation.

Tuba City has 49% unemployment and one-third of its residents do not have electricity or running water in their homes.

The alternative school, which is a public school in the Tuba City Unified School District, is headed by principal Henry Henderson. 

Mr. Henderson was previously the principal at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico.

  

Reader to Reader has a decade-long partnership with Navajo Pine, including having brought a group of Navajo students to Amherst, Massachusetts on a trip chaperoned by Mr. Henderson.

"We are so pleased to work with Mr. Henderson once again to boost the resources of the Nizhoni Accelerated Academy," David Mazor said. "We look forward to greatly increasing the number of books available for their students, and we also hope to involve their students in our Read, Think. Share Mentoring Program."

Reader to Reader's Navajo outreach work is funded through the generous support of the Fordham Street Foundation, the Hiatt Family Foundation, and Jean and Lynn Miller.

Halloween Scares Up 17,500 Books for Navajo Nation Schools

Despite the spooky Halloween weather, our intrepid partners at the Navajo Nation Public Library are driving a book-filled U-Haul yet again! 

17,500 books and 21 computers are en route to the Navajo Nation, where they will be distributed to over 36 schools on the Navajo and Hopi reservations, the public library and its branch, Head Start programs, and Thoreau Community Center. The Office of the First Lady will also receive thousands of children’s books and college prep books for distribution across the Navajo Nation.

Director of the Navajo Nation Public Library Irving Nelson and his associate Everett Ettsity flew into Hartford, CT Wednesday night and picked up the U-Haul Thursday morning. Thanks to our incredible crew of volunteers, the loading was complete in only an hour and a half. Former mentoring students from Navajo Pine High School Jeff Chen and Kyle Clark were on site to assist, as well as community volunteer Paul Curran.  

Irving and Everett will drive the U-Haul back to Window Rock, Arizona after giving a presentation at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. The books and computers will be delivered along the way, and over the next several weeks. 

 This is the 9^th trip the staff from the Navajo Nation Public Library have made to deliver books across the reservation. Executive Director David Mazor said “I truly admire Irving and Everett’s unwavering dedication to delivering resources across the reservation. It’s a long trip and a lot of work, and as long as they’re ready for the journey we’ll have books for them!” 

We are delighted to continue our Navajo Nation Book Drive after completing the initial pledge of 100,000 books this May. Our work with the Navajo Nation is supported by the Fordham Street Foundation, Exclusive Car Services, the Office of the First Lady, and all of our volunteers, donors and supporters.

If you would like to support the work we do, please visit the “Lend a Hand” section of our website to learn more about holding a book drive and how to donate to Reader to Reader.  

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.

Hopi Mission School Robbed of 10 Laptop Computers

Reader to Reader Launches Fund Drive to Replace Stolen Computers

Thanksgiving Day was anything but a holiday for the Hopi Mission School in Kykotsmovi Village, Arizona, in the heart of the Hopi Nation. On that day someone broke in a door and stole the school’s ten laptop computers.

The school is a very small, without the necessary budget for everyday needs, let alone replacing ten computers.

Reader to Reader has launched a fund drive to replace the stolen laptops and also buy the school a locking laptop cart.

“We have already raised enough money to buy the first three laptops and we need everyone’s help to donate the rest,” David Mazor, executive director of Reader to Reader, said.

Online donations can be made at http://www.crowdrise.com/HopiMissionSchool/fundraiser/reader2reader

“It’s wonderful to have a partner like Reader to Reader to help our children,” principal Thane Epefanio said. “100% of our children live under the poverty line. You help our children get into the 21st century. They come to our school to get educated in the technology that the rest of us live with on a daily basis. A third of our students don’t have water or power in their homes. A lot of people don’t realize that two hours from a major city there’s a third world country in America.”

Please help us replace Hopi Mission School's technology. No one deserves to lose learning opportunities and resources because of someone else's hurtful actions. Join our team, share with friends, and support the children of Hopi Mission School today.

Thank you!

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 Librarian Battles Hurricane Sandy to Bring Books Back to Navajo Nation

With the winds of Hurricane Sandy hitting gusts of 50-miles-per-hour, Irving Nelson, Program Supervisor for the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, drove a 26-foot truck loaded with 7-tons of books through Massachusetts and Pennsylvania Monday.

Nelson is making his second trip this year to bring back over 16,000 books and a dozen computers that will be distributed to 16 schools on the Navajo Nation and Hopi reservation.

A similar trip in July brought back 15,000 books and 21 computers.

The books and computers are being donated by Reader to Reader, a Massachusetts literacy organization that has donated over $1,000,000 worth of books to the Navajo Nation in the past ten years.

A team of Reader to Reader employees and volunteers raced to load the truck, trying to beat the storm as it moved up the eastern seaboard.

“Irving Nelson is one of a kind,” said Reader to Reader founder David Mazor.” He’s very dedicated and he’s even willing to drive through a hurricane if it benefits the Navajo and Hopi people.”

It's not the first praise Nelson has received. In 2009 he received the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian's Prism Award.

The books are expected to arrive in Window Rock, Arizona on Friday, November 2, after a 2,300 mile journey, and will be distributed to schools the following week.

Some of the schools receiving books include St. Michael Indian School, Alta Vista Elementary, Jeddito School, Navajo Pine High School, Window Rock High School, Pine Hill School, First Mesa Elementary, Hopi Mission School, Second Mesa Elementary School, Moencopi Day School, Pine Hill School, Gallup Catholic School, Keans Canyon Elementary School, St. Bonaventure Mission Indian School, Valley High School, and Hopi Jr./Sr. High School.

In addition to the list of schools, books will make their way on to the shelves of boys and girls clubs, senior centers, the Navajo Nation Library and their branch library in Kayenta, the Thoreau Community Center, and will be given out by the First Lady of the Navajo Nation, Martha Shelley, in her outreach to Navajo children.