ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Paola Rodriguez was one of many people sorting over 43,000 books for First Book at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute prior to distribution.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — About 43,000 new books will be given to children in Lynn Saturday morning at the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Annex building.
Teachers and Lynn Public Schools staff can pick up 50 free books each from the building at 160 Neptune Blvd. beginning 9 a.m.The distribution will open to the general public from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Families can choose five books for each child.
ALSO: English students take art to the next level
Brant Duncan, president of the Lynn Teachers Union, worked with First Book, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide disadvantaged children with new books. The organization has distributed more than 150 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the country.
An 18-wheeler truck arrived at the school at the beginning of the week and 26 pallets of books were unloaded. Groups of volunteers are gathering this week to sort the books by age level, Duncan said.
“Some of the high school groups are helping with sorting over the next few days,” he said. “The ROTC kids from Lynn English, the SkillsUSA kids from Lynn Tech, and a community service club at Lynn Classical are helping. All of the different community groups are helping with the efforts is impressive.”
As part of the program, the Teachers Union raised $9,000 and registered 500 people with First Book. Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy served as a guest bartender at the Porthole Restaurant to raise money. A second fundraiser was held at Rolly’s Tavern on the Square. The rest of the cash came from donations.
“The fun thing is that the $9,000 is not lost,” Duncan said.
Each school will have a $300 credit to the First Book Marketplace, an online store that offers children’s books at prices 50-90 percent below retail value.
“The exciting thing is that different schools have different programs and they will have control over what they order,” Duncan said.
Schools are eligible for the program if at least 70 percent of the children they serve are from low-income families, according to First Book’s website.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.