BY ROSSI SEALEY
Aiming to bring books to the community, several Brooklyn non-profit organizations kicked off a back-to-school event during the weeklong Brooklyn Book Festival on September 14 at sponsor Read 718’s Malcolm X Blvd. site in Bedford Stuyvesant.
The event allows families, children, and book lovers to take free books.
Read 718 partners with two non-profit organizations: Brooklyn Book Bodega’s mission is to increase the number of New York City households with 100 books by providing free books and hosting events. The House of SpeakEasy’s mission is to expand book access in neighborhoods that have limited bookstores and libraries, while also providing educational workshops and programs, such as after-school college readiness programs.
At the event, The House of Speakeasy distributed free books at its book mobile. Also, inside the site there were school supplies and Julie Kwon, a local children’s illustrator, doing a storytime reading.
“We tend to look for events where we can get access to books,” said John Glasgow, father. “We think it is important to get our three-year-old son, along with our 16-year-old daughter, keen to keep them learning and reading.”
Emily Kirven founded READ 718 in January 2015. As a former English teacher, she created this non-profit organization after observing her previous students struggle with reading, which was eventually affecting their performance in various subjects. Also, some students are not able to afford private tutoring.
“It’s always fun to work with other organizations here in Brooklyn who also care about literacy and spreading awareness of it,” said Kirven.
Kirven designed a program allowing low-income families from grades 1-8 to gain educational access for their children. According to the READ 718 website, “READ 718 has provided over 16,000 hours of one-to-one literacy tutoring to over 350 children — many of whom have returned for multiple cycles –, trained over 400 volunteers, provided 17 educational workshops to parents and educators in our community.”
READ 718 also launched both Saturday and Summer reading rooms for fluency guidance, workshops, and book clubs. Also, created a remote reading program for the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued due to its success.
They all sponsored this event with the support of New York State of Opportunity, Council of Arts, and NYC Cultural Affairs.
A mother of two who likes to stroll around the neighborhood takes this opportunity to go to these non-profit organization book events.
“We love to read,” said Jovana Santiago. “So this is the way for my daughter to come out and we burn energy, interact, and pick up books.” She also appreciates the accessibility. “Some people don’t have money for books, so this is a way for people to keep up with their love of reading,” said Santiago.
First-time attendees Dana Co and her boyfriend are among those who like books. “I think the event is really nice and cute for kids to get more into reading,” said Co, nurse. “Since I think right now, they are probably not doing as much of that and are on their phones.”
Julie Kwon’s illustrations brought Kyle Lukoff’s picture book, ‘I’m Sorry You Got Mad,’ an NPR Books We Love 2024 pick and BCCB Blue Ribbon Book(Picture Books 2024), to life for children during this event.
Kwon, who has worked with these organizations on similar events in the past, expressed joy in seeing the initial reactions of kids and others in person when seeing the book rather than online.
“Through events like this, it is such a valuable opportunity to actually see how kids meet with other kids and see them interacting with your work,” said Kwon. “While witnessing how the work I do impacts them.”
Kwon explains that the book tells the story of Jack, a kid who learns to apologize to his classmate Zoe after knocking over her block castle. Through writing apology notes assigned by his teacher, Jack figures out how to create a proper apology, conveying a valuable message for children that Kwon appreciates.
“I think this message is delivered in a fun way and it’s very relatable,” said Kwon. “I think everyone has struggled to apologize to someone or needed to be apologized to and knows how it feels.”
Kirven hopes for the community to feel connected with the organizations through these events.
“My hope is that the community knows that there are people who care about them and the kids,” said Kirven.