Newark Students Get $4.7M Donation For ‘My Very Own Library’

NEWARK, NJ — United Way of Essex and West Hudson (UWEWH) recently announced that a private community member has given the group a $4.7 million donation to support literacy for Newark Public School students.

According to a UWEWH news release, the monies will fund the continuation of the “My Very Own Library” (MVOL) program, an initiative made possible through UWEWH, the program’s administrator,and Scholastic Book Fairs, a division of Scholastic, the exclusive book supplier of MVOL.

Earlier this month, the United Way of Essex and West Hudson, headquartered in Newark, announced the three-year implementation plan for MVOL, an international initiative that encourages literacy by offering students in need an opportunity to own their own books.

Since 2011, the MVOL initiative, has given students the opportunity to select free books from school book fairs. For the 2016-2017 school year, three more schools have been added to the list of MVOL schools, expanding the project’s reach to 26 schools and 16,500 students, organizers said.

In total, this year’s program will place 165,000 more books into the home libraries of Newark students, organizers stated.

“There is no better way to foster a love of reading than to allow students to choose the books they want to read during their free time,” said Catherine Wilson, President & CEO, United Way of Essex and West Hudson.

Here’s how the program works, according to organizers:

“At two Scholastic Book Fairs, students will be able to choose three books for free to build their own home library, and at a third book fair, each student will select four books, bringing the total for each child in the program to 10 books which they then own. Also included in the MVOL program, are school visits with children’s book authors, during which 100 copies of each author’s book will be distributed to participating students. Additionally, each school will receive $1,000 in grant funding to host three family literacy events which will coincide with each book fair event, helping families understand the importance of independent reading beyond the school day.”

Participating schools in Newark, NJ include:

• Abington Avenue School
• Belmont Runyon School
• Brick Avon Academy
• BRICK Peshine Avenue
• Camden Street School
• Chancellor Ave School/Annex
• Cleveland Elementary
• Dr. E. Alma Flagg
• Elliott Street School
• George Washington Carver
• Harriett Tubman School
• Hawkins Street School
• Hawthorne Avenue
• Ivy Hill Elementary
• Louise A. Spencer
• Luis Munoz Marin
• McKinley School
• Miller Street
• Oliver Street
• Quitman Street
• Rafael Hernandez Elementary
• Ridge Street
• South 17th Street
• Speedway Academies
• Sussex Avenue
• Thirteenth Avenue School

Photo: Newark Public Schools

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