Yestereday was International Book Giving Day - a day to celebrate books by giving a child a book. So yesterday I packed up 5 boxes of books with some friends to send to a Long Island school whose library had been totally destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.
And then we packed up another 6 boxes of books to send to Project Cicero. What is Project Cicero, you might ask? I will let it speak for itself:
Project Cicero is an annual non-profit book drive designed to create – or supplement – school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Since its inception in 2001, Project Cicero has distributed over 1,800,000 new and gently used books to 10,000 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching an estimated 400,000 students. We receive donations from individuals and families from over 100 independent, public, and parochial schools each year, and have received generous contributions from many book publishers.
Project Cicero is a partnership of New York City parent and student volunteers, The New York Society Library, Vornado Realty Trust, and The New York Post, in association with Teach for America New York and the New York City Teaching Fellows.
Over 1,000 teachers from all over New York City are invited to make their selections at our event in early March each year. Hundreds of student, parent and teacher volunteers assist in all aspects of collecting and distributing the books.
On-line donations of new books may be made through this website by clicking on the “Wish List.” Books on the list are in great demand by participating teachers. Monetary donations are also welcome and may be made through this website by clicking “Contact Us.”
Project Cicero is named in honor of the Roman writer, statesman, orator and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, who created extensive libraries in the first century, B.C. He shared his love of literature and learning, just as Project Cicero seeks to do.
Sadly, not one of us thought to bring a camera.
These both sound like worthy causes! That's a lot of books! Great post Alex. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Renee. I thought they would be worthy causes to send books to, I just wish I had had a camera.
ReplyDeleteGlad to learn about Project Cicero and will try to support them with a box of books myself at some point! Is there an equivalent for inner city Boston?
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