Eight members of Northern Virginia’s Assistance League chapter participated in their third book fair of the year, part of a program called “Build a Child’s Library.” The event took place on May 20th at a local Title I elementary school in Fairfax County. Assistance League members planned and carried out a book giveaway in which children from grades pre-K through 6 were each allowed to select an age-appropriate title to call their own. Thanks to a generous financial contribution by Dr. Kamal Jajodia (kamaljajodiamd.com), a psychiatrist in McLean, the chapter was able to procure more than enough titles from Scholastic Books to allow every student who attended to select from a large collection of brand-new books, made available by grade and reading level, as well as a generous selection of bilingual (English/Spanish) books. After selecting their books, the students were invited to sign their names on the inside covers of the books under the words “This Book Belongs to”, and were given a specially designed bookmark for their future reading. The children really seemed to enjoy selecting their books, some having a hard time choosing from the excellent selection. They were delighted when they found out they didn’t have to return their new books but instead got to keep them forever and ever!
While the volunteers believe the rewards from working with children are intangible, it’s always such a joy when one of the students is so excited to find out they get to keep the book as their very own, that he or she reaches out with hugs. A couple of little girls even expressed their love and threw kisses as they left the library!
