Next week, Valentine’s Day will be sharing its date with another important celebration! February 14th is also Book Giving Day. On this day, people are encouraged to give books to children or children's organizations engaged with improving literacy. You can help share the love of reading on this special day.
There are many ways to get books to kids. Some people donate books to schools. Others give books to family members or friends. You might also consider leaving a book in a park or at a bus stop (perhaps with a note on it asking for someone to take it home). If you have a Little Free Library in your area, like the one outside of Crestwood for example (which is temporarily out of service), you can drop off books for people to take home too.
But what’s a Little Free Library? These mailbox-looking libraries are designed for people to drop off and pick up books at their leisure. Unlike our library system, which requires a library card, a Little Free Library gives and takes books unrestricted. You can keep a book forever, and you can leave a book knowing you may never see it again. It’s also an interesting way to learn about the tastes of the people in an area. What kinds of books have they decided to share? For Book Giving Day, you may want to consider dropping off a children’s book in a Little Free Library near you.
Do you want to contribute, but you’re not sure if you can afford to purchase a book to give? We’ll also have carts of free books set up at each of the Yonkers library branches available to take. The Yonkers Grinton I Will’s book cart will have a delayed start taking place after the school day ends. In addition, the Yonkers Will Library and the Riverfront Library have an on-going book sale where items only cost 25 cents. We hope you enjoy this February 14th by sharing the love of reading with a child or literacy-engaged organization this year.
Zaivy Luke-Alemán is a Clerk I at the Grinton I Will Library. This post and the carts of books were created in collaboration with Z. Baird, Alison Robles, Aili Whelan, Oz Coto-Chang, Michelle Halpern, and Shauna Porteus. Thank you to our team for sharing excitement about getting books in the hands of readers.