A Call to Action for KidDilly Moms

Some days it looks like a library has imploded on my daughter’s floor. In only minutes, she can remove every book from her shelves and baskets.

But, there are children right here in Lackawanna County who don’t have shelves lined with books or baskets overflowing with the books that have already overflowed from the shelves.

There are kids here who don’t even have their own book.

Shelf to Shelf is a community project coordinated by the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and sponsored by the Voluntary Action Center whose mission is to solve that very problem and to put great books into the hands of children who need them.

They collect gently used or new books for children preschool through fifth grade and distribute them to children in schools throughout Lackawanna County. The children get to keep the books as their own.

Donated books are first cleaned by Senior Volunteers and shelved according to reading level. Orders are accepted from Lackawanna County teachers who indicate the number of books needed, whether the students are male or female, and the reading levels of the children.

I contacted the program last week to see how KidDilly moms might help, and I was quickly contacted back by Diane Brown of Senior Corps of PA who was very excited to know we were interested.

She invited me to come in to their storage room donated by Goodwill Industries. I expected to see scribbled on or torn books that people had discarded, but that wasn’t the case.

The books on the shelves that were awaiting their new home were in beautiful condition. And there wasn’t an outdated book to be had. “If you wouldn’t give it to your child, we wouldn’t give it to a child in the program,” Mrs. Brown explained. All books must be in good condition and will not be accepted if they are not. They want the child receiving the book to love the book. After all, it is a gift.

Just like your child has favorites, there are some books they just can’t keep on the shelves. Here is a list of what they’d love to have more of:

Any hard cardboard books (for preschoolers)
Clifford
Arthur/DW series
Berenstain Bears
Curious George
Little Critter
Little Bear
Dr. Seuss
Amelia Bedelia
American Girl Series
Dear America/ American Girl
Scooby-Doo
Amber Brown
Junie B. Jones
Hardy Boys
Books by Matt Christopher (often sports-related books)
Goosebump series
Harry Potter
Step Into Reading Books (level I, II, III or IV)

There are some books they are unable to use. They do not accept any dictionaries, encyclopedias, religious books, outdated books or books beyond a fifth grade reading level. It is okay if a child’s name is on a cover; they can cover it with their program stickers. But, other than that, pages should be free of writing.

Here’s your call to action, moms. If you have any of the above in-demand titles, or any other relevant material in good condition and your child no longer reads it, please consider making a contribution and let those books go from your shelf to someone else’s shelf.

I’ll be collecting books at any of our upcoming playdates or outings (listed below) throughout the month of February. If you have books you’d like to donate but can’t make any of the dates, I’m happy to make arrangements to collect books at your convenience. Email me at kiddilly@ymail.com.

February 5th – Dinner A’fare, Moosic PA 6:30 - 8:30
February 8th – Gymboree, Clarks Summit 6:00 – 7:30
February 10th – Sleep Inn Playdate 5:30 – 6:30
February 12th – Scrapbooking at AC Moore 6:00 – 8:30
February 28th – Sleep Inn Playdate 3:30 – 4:30

Plus: Monetary donations will be accepted at any of these events or at the 2010 NEPA Kids' Birthday Party Expo. 100% of the donations received will go toward the purchase of brand new books that meet Shelf to Shelf's needs criteria and will be given to the program to be distributed.