Effort makes reading materials available to kids
BUTLER — Ninety-degree weather couldn't keep Butler School District teachers, administrators and principals from spreading the joy of reading.
On Monday the district kicked off the first BookStop Tour for the Butler area. For almost six hours, 20 volunteers from the Butler Education Association were split between two routes that traveled around the school district with a truck full of books to give to children.
Kara Droney, director of communication for the district, was happy with the turnout.
“We estimate that about 150 kids received books,” she said. “We hope that number will grow each time the BookStop makes a run through our community.”
At their Alameda Park Purple Playground stop alone, Droney believes at least 50 kids stopped by to pick up books.
Children could visit the BookStop crew at one of 13 stops and pick out a free, gently used book to take home and read for the summer. The children also had the option of bringing books to trade as well.
Books for any age and reading level were available, from small and thin preschool books to young adult books like “The Fault in Our Stars.”
The books handed out were collected from the BEA book drive, said Amanda Gold, a teacher at McQuistion Elementary School and vice president of the Butler Education Association. “BEA has always done our book drive,” she said. “We were just sending (the books) to local organizations. This is just us giving them right back to the kids in the community.”
While volunteers weren't sure how many books were available, they estimated that they had at least 500 available between the two routes, which means kids had options. Gold said it took almost four hours, even with the help of a few National Honor Society students, to sort all the books into the correct categories.
“The purpose of the program is to encourage reading over the summer,” Droney said. “We hope that encouraging kids to select a book that is of interest to them will generate excitement for reading.”
José Vargas from Butler visited BookStop with his two children, Nehemias, 7, and Noemi, 5, during the last stop on the Blue Route at Father Marinaro Park.
Vargas said he learned about BookStop through a flyer for an app run by one of his children's teachers.
Both children took home two books. Nehemias' books included one about Spider-man and the other was about monster trucks, while Noemi took home a book about Barbie and another about puppies.
The masterminds behind bringing BookStop to Butler were Gold, Droney and Julie Hopp, director of curriculum, instruction, and professional development at the district and a member of the Western Pennsylvania Early Literacy Team. Hopp, Gold, and Droney worked together to present the idea of bringing BookStop to the administration.
“Julie and I actually started this at another district — Chartiers Valley — and then we brought it to the literacy team,” Droney said. “And now there's 15 through the area that run a program similar to BookStop.”
The BookStop will happen once a month throughout the summer. The next BookStop will be July 10 at the Stuff-a-Bus food drive at Emily Brittain Elementary School. On Aug. 17, BookStop will take to the routes again to deliver books to children.
“The community is awesome. We weren't sure what the response would be, but the Butler community embraced it.” Droney said. “I don't think it would have been possible without the community taking an interest, donating their books, and showing up today.”
