Curriculum

Free Books for Students in Need

By Catherine A. Cardno — April 23, 2013 1 min read
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So many truly awful events have occurred in the last few months, Hurricane Sandy’s damage seems like it occurred years ago, rather than a mere 6 months. However, the organization First Book has been busy collecting new books for distribution to homes, community centers, and schools in need in the aftermath of the storm. Due to the generosity of Random House, the organization now has more than 1 million brand-new books to distribute to home, community, and school libraries.

A program or school “in need” (70 percent or more of the students must come from low-income families to qualify, according to First Book) can register to receive these new books if they are located in states affected by the storm.

The books are available to 12 states and the District of Columbia, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) identified as being affected by the storm: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, and (of course) Washington, D.C.

First Book has long-running programs for schools and groups that serve low-income populations, so even if your school is not located within the FEMA-designated area, you may qualify for books through a different program.

A version of this news article first appeared in the BookMarks blog.