WILMINGTON, MA — The North Intermediate School received a $5,000 grant last month from bestselling author James Patterson to support its school library. In addition, Scholastic Reading Club will match each dollar of Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms. The North was selected from 27,924 applications for funding grants.
As part of an ongoing effort to keep books and reading a number one priority in the United States, bestselling author James Patterson, together with the Scholastic Reading Club, made a commitment to help save school libraries nationwide. In 2015, Patterson donated $1.75 million to school libraries nationwide, with grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 allocated to each of the 467 selected schools.
“The North Intermediate School library will be using the $5,000 from this grant for new books,” says North Librarian Heather Peachey. “We will be replacing worn out copies of the most popular titles, buying some paperbacks to support some teacher requests, and the rest will be spent on the best new books for our students. We will be able to buy around 300 new books because of the generosity of James Patterosn. Scholastic matched the grant with 5,000 bonus scholastic points that went to teacher Nicole Hoxholi, who intends to share them among the fourth grade team for new books and resources for the classroom.”
“These grants are my humble acknowledgement of some of the terrific work taking place in libraries,” says Patterson. “Here’s to communities supporting school libraries. Here’s to a country that makes reading a priority.”
“It continues to be inspiring and motivating to work with James Patterson to support school libraries across the country,” said Judy Newman, President of the Scholastic Reading Club. “Jim’s unwavering commitment to helping children lead better lives, rich with books, is transformative. Scholastic is thrilled to be working in such an effective partnership.”
(NOTE: The above press release was included in the 1/20 School Committee Meeting packet.)
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