School to get $1,000 Worth of New Books

10/24/2003
By NATALIA E. ARBULÚ Staff writer
narbulu@repub.com

HOLYOKE, MA -- As a reward for its literacy effort, William N. DeBerry Elementary School in Springfield will receive $1,000 worth of new books.

Reader to Reader Inc., an Amherst-based charity which brings new books and used books in good condition to school libraries in impoverished areas, has teamed up with Barnes & Noble Booksellers to provide new books to school libraries in Hampden and Hampshire counties.

William N. DeBerry Elementary School pupils Booby W. Maldonado and Daisy W. Kabochi, both fifth-graders, look over possible purchases at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Holyoke yesterday. The two students were taking part in a Reader To Reader Inc. program that brings new and used books to school libraries in poorer areas.

Store officials, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and charity executive director David Mazor celebrated the partnership at a press conference yesterday in the Barnes & Noble store in Holyoke.

Barnes & Noble will donate 10,000 new books from its inventory, with an estimated value of $100,000, to the charity for distribution.

The store has also given the charity $1,000 to divide among schools like DeBerry that have shown exceptional commitment to education and literacy.

Mazor said the charity takes excess books and puts them to good use by giving them to school libraries which could otherwise not afford them.

DeBerry principal Kevin McCaskill accepted a $250 gift certificate from the partnership which paid for books picked out by four students and Reader To Reader also presented the school with $750 in new books provided by its donors. The charity has already donated 500 used children’s books to the school in the past month.

McCaskill said he chose the students to participate in the shopping spree because they are hard workers and helpful.

Fourth-grader Laqueria J. Crapps, 10, had filled her shopping basket with such books as "The Secret Garden," "Harriet the Spy," and numerous volumes of the adventures of Lizzie McGuire.

Laqueria said she enjoyed the shopping spree. "It's cool," she said.

Carol O'Shea, a professional development collaborative reading teacher at the school, said students' daily homework includes 20 minutes of reading.

Students also visit the neighboring public library and the fifth-grade has a book club, O'Shea said.

Mazor said he proud of what is happening at DeBerry.

McCaskill gave credit to his staff.

"The teachers at our school really get the job done in terms of literacy," McCaskill said. McCaskill's ultimate goal is to have DeBerry students attend college.

About 81 percent of the school's 300 children qualify for free or reduced lunch, which means they live at or below the federal poverty level, Mazor said.