As part of its ongoing literacy initiative, the Peace Center announces a community-wide Season of Giving book drive to benefit elementary classrooms in Greenville County Title I schools.

 

Everyone in the Upstate is invited to celebrate the joy of reading by donating new and lightly loved children’s books to the Peace Center’s new Book Nook.

 

“A simple book has the ability to vastly broaden a child’s world, allowing imagination to take them to faraway places and offering an enhanced understanding of the world around them,” said Peace Center President and CEO Megan Riegel. “Literacy is vital to the success of every student and to the growth and prosperity of this amazing region. I hope the community fully embraces this effort to help make a significant and lasting impact for local students right here in our own schools.”

 

Studies show that to best meet literacy standards, each elementary school classroom should have its own library of a minimum of 30 books per student. The book drive will focus on collecting books for the classrooms at Thomas E. Kerns Elementary and Armstrong Elementary.

 

Books can be dropped off at the Book Nook now through Dec. 16 in the Peace Concert Hall lobby, which is open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and 90 minutes before performances. Those donating will have the opportunity to inscribe a special book plate that will be placed in the book. The Peace Concert Hall is located at 300 S. Main Street in downtown Greenville.

 

In mid-December, at the culmination of the six-week drive, the books will go directly into the classrooms at Thomas E. Kerns Elementary and Armstrong Elementary.

 

Books should be new or lightly loved, and targeted to elementary and beginner reading levels, including picture books and short chapter books. Books in Spanish are also needed. Community members are encouraged to donate their favorite childhood book or to choose a book from the Greenville County Schools recommended reading list or the Association for Library Services to Children list. Both of those lists are available at peacecenter.org/booknook.

 

Title I is the largest federally funded educational program, providing financial assistance to local schools with high percentages of children from low-income families. The purpose of Title I is to provide opportunities for all children to meet the challenging state performance standards. In addition to ensuring that every child receives a quality education, Title I programs also place emphasis on building relationships between schools and families. 

 

The Season of Giving Book Nook is the latest effort in the Peace Center’s new literacy initiative in local schools. By engaging students through literary works and facilitating wonder, curiosity and interests through the performing arts, the Peace Center aims to increase reading levels among children in the community. New this school year, a pilot program at Berea Elementary School provides students with books that correlate to field trip performances they’ll see at the Peace Center, all at no cost to the students or the school. Teacher resources and student worksheets are provided to help carry learning from the stage into the classroom.

This season, the Peace Center is also providing nearly 9,000 subsidized tickets to Title I schools across the district for the Peace Passport Field Trip Series.