My Very Own Library (MVOL) Provides New Books To 20,000 Students

UNITED WAY OF ESSEX AND WEST HUDSON’S MY VERY OWN LIBRARY® (MVOL) PROGRAM PROVIDES NEW BOOKS TO 20,000 NEWARK STUDENTS

More than 20,000 students from 31 schools in Newark, NJ will each receive 10 free books this school year to build home libraries!

According to the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, 86% of children ages 6–17 agreed that it is “very important for my future to be a good reader,” however, kids from lower-income families have access to about half the number of books in their homes as their higher-income peers. To help ensure that Newark students have access to books at home, United Way of Essex & West Hudson has partnered with 31 Newark Public Schools to implement the My Very Own Library Program®. Founded in 2011 by the late Anne Feeley (1954-2012), My Very Own Library (MVOL) is a literacy initiative with a mission to help encourage and support students love of reading by providing them the opportunity to build their very own home libraries. MVOL is rooted in research indicating that students foster a life-long love of reading and demonstrate stronger literacy skills as they build home libraries.

MVOL has partnered exclusively with Scholastic Book Fairs to offer fun, engaging book fair events three times a year, strategically planned to occur near school breaks: December (Holiday Break), February/March (Spring Break), and June (Summer Break). This distribution strategy is based on findings that conclude it is important to ensure books are available to any child at any time of the year, particularly during the summer months when the gap between low-income and middle-income reading performance grows the most. Each school year students are afforded the opportunity to select 10 new, free books at three decorated, themed book fair events to build their home libraries. These book fair events not only inspire students to read, but also help to foster a school wide excitement around literacy.

Engaging families is a critical objective of the My Very Own Library literacy program. All participating MVOL school partners host family literacy events that coincide with their in-school MVOL book fair events to help families learn how to support healthy reading habits in the home. MVOL grants each school with a $1,000 Family Engagement gift card to be spent on event related expenses. Family literacy events include refreshments, read aloud presentations, community engagement, fun literacy activities, parent reading workshops, and more.

By the end of this school year, My Very Own Library will have provided a total of more than 1.1 million books to Newark Public School students since its inception!

“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. Our My Very Own Library program does just that”, stated Catherine P. Wilson, President & CEO of United Way of Essex & West Hudson.

The MVOL program is making a huge impact on the students it serves. A 6th grade student named Elijah confirms by stating: “I think that My Very Own Library is a great way to build up our vocabulary and improve our reading skills. It also allows the scholars to choose their own books to read that they are interested in. Having my Very Own Library Books was helpful because I still have them in my house, on my bookshelf”.

“MVOL is a blessing in disguise. This program has allowed my daughter the opportunity to access books that she otherwise would probably not have known existed. This program benefits our scholars by exposing them to different worlds through books. MVOL encourages the love of reading books from different genres than what kids might be used to, said Ms. Spears, parent Newark Public School student.

To learn more about the My Very Own Library program, visit: www.uwewh.org