LI Mom Hosting Book Drive For Northport & East Northport Children

NORTHPORT, NY — A book drive is being held for Northport and East Northport children through the end of June. The drive, launched by Northport mother Molly Feeney Wood and being held in conjunction with Huntington bookstore Book Revue, is intended to get books into the hands of children who are in need during the coronavirus outbreak.

There are a few ways to help children: buying books for them, buying books for yourself, or by donating a Book Revue gift card to a Northport-East Northport teacher.

The Book Revue website offers instructions on each of the three options, which can be read and followed here.

Wood, a mother of three and a literary consultant at school districts, said she got the idea for the drive following the inception of remote learning for students, which was brought on by the pandemic as Long Island schools were forced to close for the remainder of the academic year. The term "book deserts" kept coming to mind for Wood.

"Book deserts are places where children do not have access to high quality, engaging, current books — and it appeared to me that more students were going to be tasked with learning at home without much to read," Wood told Patch. "I started thinking about ways to get books into kids' hands."

Some of the districts Wood works with have delivered book bags to students each week along the bus routes, while others provided books alongside the free meal pick-ups or deliveries, she said. She loves the Free Little Library program and is glad to see those popping up more now that public libraries are indefinitely closed due to the coronavirus, she said.

"Ultimately, I decided to run a book drive, because the books are new (less risk during the pandemic) and I could get it going myself," she wrote in an email. "Partnering with Book Revue in Huntington, a cherished, independent bookshop, made the idea even more exciting as this drive will help students in the Northport-East Northport district as well as an important local business. My hope is that our community will be able to come together to purchase new books for students who really need them."