GOT BOOKS?: Riverside Elementary Hosts Book Drive

Riverside Elementary School is hosting their annual book drive for students in K-5.

Each year the PTO sponsors the AR Store for students in K-5 as part of the reading program. AR stands for Accelerated Reader and the kids can choose books within their reading range and take a short quiz after finishing their book.  Riverside has used this program with great success for several years. Twice a year, the kids can spend their earned points on prizes in the AR Store. Part of the store has always been a shelf of books that the kids can choose from for “free”. This shelf of books helps to encourage readers to continue reading.

“Some kids that come into the store don’t own very many books, so we are always excited to have a large selection for for them,” said Kristine Deasey, member of Riverside’s PTO.

In previous years, the school has called on friends and family to donate books. Because of the restrictions that were in place at the beginning of the school year, there was no AR Store for the elementary school. When the rules were changed very recently, permission was given to accept donated books, the PTO knew they needed to get the word out to a larger audience. There is only few weeks left to get enough books together for about 700 kids. That’s where social media came in. Deasey decided to publicize the need and kept her fingers crossed that people were willing to help.

“We have had some donations, but we would love to have more. These kids are going to be heading home for the summer and they may not have access to books. We really feel that is important to get books into these kiddos’ hands,” Deasey added.

For now, books can be dropped off at the Riverside Elementary School office during business hours, as long as they are marked “AR”. We will be going through donations and sorting them according to age and level.