2,500 Books for Maine Children

SANFORD, MAINE - Thousands of low-income children in York County will be taking home new children’s books, thanks to Reader to Reader, a literacy organization based in Massachusetts.

The books were donated to York County Community Action, located on Spruce Street in Sanford. YCCAC will distribute the books to low-income children of all ages in the area.

In all, Reader to Reader is donating 2,500 new books with a total value of $25,000.

The books are being provided by Reader to Reader through its partnerships with Scholastic Corporation through their The Scholastic Possible Fund, Pioneer Valley Press and several other leading publishers.

"Reader to Reader's generous donations of multiple shipments of books have allowed us to offer books to all of our 2,000-plus children that we serve, as well as their older siblings," said Jennifer Quimby, the WIC Program Director at York County Community Action.

David Mazor, the founder and executive director of Reader of Reader, made sure to get the books to YCCAC in time for Christmas.

"We are 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," he said in a press release a few days before the holiday.

Reader to Reader has a long history of donating books to school and outreach programs in Maine, and has donated over $200,000 in books during the past decade. Based in Amherst, Massachusetts, Reader to Reader, Inc. is a non-profit organization that distributes books and computers to schools and libraries in need. It has donated over 5 million books to schools and libraries in need across the United States and in 19 countries.

Woodland Consolidated School enjoys book giveaway!

The students at Woodland Consolidated School in Woodland, Maine enjoyed a book giveaway thanks to Reader to Reader.

Woodland Consolidated is a small school and depends on donations to support these types of activities.

“It was a great day of reading and fun made possible by your generous gift,” librarian Cindy Pirvette said.

Funding for our support of Maine comes from the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation and the F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc.

Lots of books for incoming kindergartners in Westbrook, Maine

All incoming kindergartners in the Westbrook, Maine school system will receive a free book during kindergarten screenings later this month thanks to a donation of 250 brand new books by Reader to Reader.

The United Way of Greater Portland runs the initiative, which aims to improve kindergarten readiness and get kids excited about starting school.

As a native Mainer herself, Reader to Reader's Kat Libby was happy to deliver the books to Karen Stephenson, Director of Volunteer Engagement last Friday (both pictured below.) Karen expressed her gratitude in a recent email: “Thank you so much for all of these beautiful books! I can’t wait to show them to the Literacy Specialists. They’ll be so excited to share them with the kids. I can’t tell you what this means to us.”

Happy reading to the brand-new kindergarteners, and future college Class of 2031!

Funding for our support of Maine comes from the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation and the F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc.

Maine Book Project Receives Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation

The Maine Book Project will continue to grow this year thanks to the generous support of the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

The foundation supports projects that address the underlying causes of social and environmental problems, as well as those that address the consequences. Literacy is one of their priorities.

Last year, Reader to Reader donated over 7,750 books to schools in York and Cumberland Counties. These books were worth over $87,000! The Maine Book Project has close relationships with schools in Alfred, the Berwicks, and Shapleigh, and has previously supported schools in Eagle Lake, Monticello, Caswell, Lubec and Woodland among others. This year we aim to expand into additional towns in York County and Somerset Counties, as well as deepen our relationship with schools that serve Native American populations.

This grant was received as part of an application process. We are very grateful to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for their support!

6,500 Books for Maine

We're very pleased to be expanding our work in Maine, where one in four children suffer from food insecurity and public education budgets are suffering tremendously from poor state leadership and a weak economy.

On behalf of the students and staff of Alfred Elementary School, I would like to express our sincere thanks for the generous donation of books to our school. Your Reader to Reader program is truly making a difference. Our students were so excited and could not wait to read and explore the new books donated to their classrooms. Your donation also allowed us to add books to our Literacy support program. This program is designed to provide intervention support for our struggling readers. During these challenging financial times programs like yours are so very necessary. We are very appreciative and grateful for your donation.

Sincerely,

Virginia Drouin
Principal, Alfred Elementary

Alfred Elementary School is just one of the schools in York and Cumberland counties in Maine that are receiving new books from Reader to Reader this year. In these poor and rural areas, resources that were minimal to start are rapidly shrinking. Many schools and libraries are unable to purchase new books, leaving their students and teachers without access to a variety of stimulating and engaging materials.

With increased access to books, students have greater opportunity to read, for fun and in class. This translates directly into improved academic success and greater potential for future success. Reader to Reader strongly believes in the ability of young people of all backgrounds, and in the power of reading to facilitate their success.

These donations were made possible by the generous support of the Samuel L. Cohen Foundation and Scholastic.

We Are a Small, Rural, Community School

Dear Reader To Reader,

My name is Veronica Holyoke. I am the librarian at Wellington School, in Monticello, Maine. Our principal, Nancy Wright, has given us the generous donation of books from Reader To Reader. I can’t tell you how delighted I was to receive the diverse assortment of books. We are a Pre-K to grade 3 school and were able to add the books to our library. We are a small, rural, community school and are so appreciative of book donations from Reader To Reader. Thank you again for thinking of us. I know our students will be thrilled to explore these new titles.

Sincerely,

Veronica Holyoke
Librarian
Wellington School
Monticello, ME

We weren't expecting another shipment!

Dear Reader To Reader,

We wanted to thank you again for all of the wonderful books you sent us. We weren't expecting another shipment, but were so happy when we saw the boxes of books!

Thank you again--we'll have lots of fun reading all of these new books.

Sincerely,

The Kids of Limestone Community School
Limestone, Maine

A Great Addition to our Collection

Dear Reader To Reader,

We wanted to thank you for sending books to our library. They will be a great addition to our collection and we will all enjoy reading them. Thank you for choosing our library to receive all of these wonderful books. Thank you!

Sincerely,

The students of Limestone Community School
Limestone, Maine

Our students Were Thrilled

Dear Reader to Reader,

Our students were thrilled to be able to pick out two or more books from the selection you sent to our school. Thank you so much for making this opportunity available to our Pre-K through Grade Eight students.

Darlene Wheeler
Bay Ridge Elementary
Cutler, Maine

Lubec Consolidated School No Longer Has a Librarian

Our Maine School Book Project, which is generously funded by the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, has begun shipping books for the new school year. The Project aids rural Maine schools which have been hit particularly hard with the economic downturn. Here is the first letter we have received from the “easternmost town in the U.S.”

Dear Mr. Mazor:

Lubec Consolidated School students and teachers are very appreciative of the books you have sent us through Reader To Reader’s Maine School Book Project. I spoke to a project representative just last week, and was very pleased to receive the latest box of books so quickly. Our budget allowance for new books is very limited, and the excellent assortment of titles will appeal to a wide variety of student interests.

Due to school subsidy cuts, Lubec Consolidated School no longer has a librarian, although the students and teachers do still use the resources of the school library. A volunteer has been keeping books in order, and the addition of new titles is very welcome.

Thank you for your support of our school.

Sincerely,
Margaret D. Bailey
Lubec Consolidated School
Lubec, Maine

Stephen and Tabitha King Bring Books to Rural Maine Schools

Stephen King's books may be mysterious, but it is no mystery why our Maine School Book Project has been such a success. It is thanks to the generous support of the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

The Project serves rural public schools in the town of Cutler, Caswell, Fort Fairfield, Van Buren, Limestone, Lubec, Monticello, New Sweden, Rockwood Twp, Stacyville, and Woodland, Maine.

Now in its fifth year, the Project has sent thousands of books to some of Maine’s most under-resourced schools.

We are grateful to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for their continuing support.