United Way of Westchester Putnam and Ossining Schools Launch Bookmobile

Ossining families that visited Nelson Sitting Park on a recent morning went home laden with books on fairies, dinosaurs, penguins and other creatures, thanks to the “Ossining Loves to Read” Bookmobile.

With the help of United Way of Westchester and Putnam, the Ossining school district converted its delivery van into a mobile library and stocked it with children’s books donated by the Ossining Girl Scouts and other community organizations. Ossining Superintendent of Schools Raymond Sanchez and United Way President and CEO Alana Sweeny unveiled the bookmobile on Monday.

Children’s Author and United Way Women’s Leadership Council member Jane Collen wore fairy wings and read her book “What More Can a Fairy Be?” to children. Scattered Books in Chappaqua brought Acorn, one of its pet bunnies, to entertain the crowd and gave each child a new book.

Mari Pillajo said she was scheduled to work Monday but took the day off so she could attend the bookmobile event with her 5-year-old and 8-year-old. “I love it when they read books to my kids,” she said.

Superintendent Sanchez said that the bookmobile is an extension of the district’s summer reading program, which encouraged reading over the break to prevent children from losing ground academically.

“The bookmobile is just one step further in encouraging reading among the youth in our neighborhoods,” the superintendent said. “It is important for us to all understand that reading is essential to a child’s success.”

Six-year-old Eden Woodley, who visited the park with her grandmother, chose “Dino Pets Go to School” and “Little Penguin’s Tale” from the boxes of books for her age group. “I love penguins because they’re cute,” she said.

Amanda Bottone, 7, and her best friend, 8-year-old Ania Guallpa, chose a number of books from Scholastic’s “Rainbow Magic Fairies” series. The two said they love reading about all the magic and will share so they can both read all of them.

Liz Bottone, Amanda’s mother, said her children – who are 1, 4, 7 and 8 – choose something from their book shelf every night to read. When they finish with the books they received Monday, they will return them to one of the schools and choose others, she said.

“I love the program that the Ossining Schools have. It’s wonderful,” said Liz, whose youngest chose “Corduroy Goes to the Doctor” by Don Freeman. “It’s like a mobile library.”

Through its United2Read initiative, the United Way has made early educational enrichment a focus of its work to reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency, Sweeny said.

Third grade is a turning point for children because up until then they are learning to read, but after third grade, they need to read to learn. Currently, only 38 percent of children in Westchester and Putnam are reading at grade level by the end of third grade. Children who are not reading at this critical stage are four times more likely to drop out of school.

“Our goal to double the percent of children reading at grade level by the end of third grade by 2026,” Sweeny said.

The United Way held a four-month long book drive earlier this year. It delivered more than 1,000 book bags filled with reading materials to low-income children and families in Westchester and Putnam.