MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA AND FOUNDATION FOR NEWARK’S FUTURE EXPAND MY VERY OWN LIBRARY
TO ALL NEWARK DISTRICT SCHOOLS IN A CELEBRATION AT HARRIET TUBMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Citywide expansion of My Very Own Library program Invites Kids to Take the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge
Newark, NJ –- June 8, 2015 — Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the Office of Comprehensive Community Education, Newark Municipal Council members, the Foundation for Newark’s Future, and representatives from Newark Public Schools and Scholastic celebrated the expansion of the “My Very Own Library” program to all Newark Public Schools District students today, at Harriet Tubman Elementary School, located at 504 South 10th Street.
The My Very Own Library (MVOL) literacy initiative has been sponsored and hosted by the Foundation for Newark’s Future since 2011, in collaboration with Scholastic Book Fairs. This school year, the initiative served 14,000 K-8 students. The tremendous support of Mayor Baraka has helped expand the program for today’s final book fair to all of Newark’s district schools, allowing every student across the entire district – an additional 12,000 students – to select four free books to take home before summer break. Students across the district were also invited to partake in Scholastic’s reading world-record breaking Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge.
“As a 22-year Newark educator, I have worked to teach our youth the importance of reading books and literacy. I am proud that this program is expanding the libraries – and thus, the horizons – of thousands of Newark youth. As Newark’s chief executive, I know that only an educated and learning youth can make wise choices about their futures. I am grateful to the Foundation for Newark’s Future for providing more than 140,000 books to youth in grades kindergarten through eight, and am excited by how these books and the youth inspired by them will transform Newark into a City we can all believe in – now and as adults.”
The event today was the third and final MVOL distribution event of this school year, but the first time in the program’s history that it was able to expand across the entire district. In addition to giving away close to 200,000 free books this school year, the MVOL initiative has significantly invested in schools’ family engagement efforts, and worked with schools to host dozens of award winning author visits from esteemed children’s authors including Elisha Cooper, Michael Northrop, Dan Poblocki, Andrew Harwell, Coe Booth, Raina Telgemeier, Heather Alexander, Sarah Weeks, and Sarah Darer Littman.
“The Foundation for Newark’s Future is so proud to have brought the My Very Own Library Initiative to Newark, and we are thrilled that Mayor Baraka saw the program’s power and helped to expand it district-wide” said FNF President and CEO Kimberly McLain. “Studies show that low-income students lose more than two months of reading achievement in the summer months if they are not provided with learning and literacy opportunities. We are confident that this district-wide infusion of books into Newark homes, My Very Own Library’s work with families, and our community ‘Summer Reading Challenge’ with Scholastic will help to stem the tide of summer learning loss.”
My Very Own Library was founded in 2011 by the late Anne Feeley (1954-2012), with additional funding and support from the Foundation for Newark’s Future. The official book fair partner of My Very Own Library is Scholastic Book Fairs, which gives students the opportunity to take advantage of special Scholastic Book Fairs at no cost.
The expansion of My Very Own Library was made possible by donations from Prudential, the Newark Charter School Fund, the Turrell Fund, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Rutgers, and individual donors.
The Mayor and other guests helped students pick out books after the celebration. The final book fair for My Very Own Library is purposely timed to the end of the school year to ensure that children have a print-rich environment in their homes as they head into the summer break.
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About FNF: Foundation for Newark’s Future is an education foundation working to improve educational outcomes for Newark students. The Foundation is part of a $200 million campaign established in 2010 with a $100 million matching grant from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, which was quickly met with a $25M investment by the Pershing Square Foundation. The Foundation invests in programs, initiatives and community partnerships across Newark that create positive outcomes for students and families from the earliest years, to their K-12 experience at district and charter schools, and upon graduation. FNF’s goal is to achieve large-scale change through short-term philanthropy.
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