Grand Street Settlement is Giving Away 16K Books Today and Saturday
Summer reading lists at the ready!
The Grand Street Settlement, in partnership with the National Book Foundation, the New York City Housing Authority, and the New York Public Library, will be giving away 16,000 brand new books to Lower East Side youth this week. They’ll be distributing titles for ages 0-18 as part of the Book Rich Environments (BRE) initiative, a collaboration between the National Book Foundation, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Urban Libraries Council, and the National Center for Families Learning.
“We believe that everyone should experience the joy of reading, including our neighbors who might not readily have access to new books,” said Robert Cordero, Executive Director of Grand St. Settlement in a statement. The giveaway is part of a larger city initiative, in which 75,000 books have made it into the hands of NYCHA youths.
The two scheduled neighborhood events will include copies in both English and Spanish, and will offer books by beloved children’s and YA authors such as Margaret Wise Brown, Evelyn Coleman, Donald Crews, and Tomie dePaola, to name a few (now is a good a time as any to get your hands on a copy of Strega Nona).
National Book Awards authors are also available, including Bronzeville Boys and Girls by Gwendolyn Brooks, Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Mango, Abuela y yo by Meg Medina, The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, and Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman.
It’s happening today at Rutgers Community Center (200 Madison St., New York. NY 10007) from 3:00-5:30pm, and Saturday, June 16 (80 Pitt St., New York, NY 10002) from 12:30pm-4:00pm.
“We firmly believe that the wonder and excitement of books are for everyone,” said Lisa Lucas, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. “Access to those books—new, quality books that readers are able to take home and keep—is a strong foundation on which to build a rich, enthusiastic, life-long relationship with reading.”
Truth. Get there.
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