You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.
Monday, March 3, 2014 many schools celebrated Read Across America 
in honor of the birthday (actual birthday—March 2) of Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss. Read Across America began in 1997 as a way to celebrate Reading! Each year The Friends and Volunteers of the Ocean City Free Public Library (F&V)—along with community members—look forward to reading to K-3 Ocean City Primary School and Head Start students. Well, this year, Mother Nature intervened and the gift of snow thwarted our plans!
The F&V Read Across America BackStory…
This beloved F&V project requires lots of planning, coordination, and teamwork. Reading to the children is the highlight, but would not be possible without…
- Collaborating with the Ocean City Free Public Library (OCFPL)…Children’s Librarian, Leslie Clarke & F&V member, Pam Hepner, select books (3 different titles for each grade & Head Start)
- Ordering and receiving the books…funds come from F&V book sales
- Creating and copying letters to parents
- Gathering the bookmarks and book bags donated by the OCFPL
- Making Nameplates for each book
- Dividing books into grade levels, and then sub-dividing them into classrooms.
- Gathering grocery bags and boxes to hold the books as well as make the delivery to the school & classrooms so much easier…
- This year, on February 24, F&V volunteers—under the direction of Barbara Riggione, Read Across America Chairperson—met at the OCFPL to…
- Place a nameplate into each book
- Place the letter to Parents and a bookmark inside each book
- Put a prepared book into a book bag
- Put the number of book bags needed for each classroom into a grocery bag marked with the name of the teacher and the number of students
- Place the classroom-ready bags into a larger box, and then…
- Transport the boxes to Barbara Riggione’s car for eventual delivery to the school…but this year, we were lucky…
Ken Riggione showed up just in time to assist with the loading of the boxes into Barbara’s car. And, local firefighters—who were waiting for a meeting—generously offered to help! While we didn’t get to read to the students, we hope each student will enjoy this gift and will continue to develop a love for READING!
Friends and Volunteers 