Share the Gift of Reading Benefits City Kids with Book Giveaway

What would prompt 6 executives, including the director of construction at Yale School of Medicine, the new city librarian and the executive director of area YMCAs to be hard at work this Saturday delivering books in the community?

“Share the Gift of Reading” was created by a team of six people who attended a training program sponsored by Yale University that was offered to senior administrators from city government, several area non-profit organizations and Yale University. After the session last fall, attendees were asked by Yale University to demonstrate their new skills by designing and executing a project that would help the city. Their collective love of reading shaped the idea.

The idea behind their project is simple - put books into the hands of pre-school children attending some of over 100 home-based licensed day care centers in New Haven. They wrote to the centers, soliciting responses from the centers that could use the books. They collected appropriate new and gently used children’s books from children and their families who have outgrown them. On Saturday, they will distribute 50 books to each of 25 home-based licensed day care centers through out New Haven, with 8 more to follow.

“In addition to the success of the project, the team has forged new professional relationships that can hopefully live on and expand in the future to help the city in new ways not yet conceived,” said Jim Welbourne, New Haven’s head librarian.

For additional details and/or arrange to a video opportunity for TV, contact Kitty Matzkin, Yale University, at 432-2094. The group will be distributing the books from 153 College Street (Yale Human Resources office at the corner of College and George) in New Haven between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Saturday. Books will be delivered to 15 centers and 10 centers are picking them up.

The “Share the Gift of Reading” Book Project Team Virginia Chapman, Yale University, School of Medicine Construction Phillip Dwyer - Southern Connecticut YMCAs Noelia Marcano, City of New Haven Human Resources Katherine Matzkin - Yale University Human Resources Danuta Nitecki - Yale University Library System James Welbourne - City of New Haven Library