“It is hard to imagine what my children’s education would look like if they were not as privileged and had so many accessible resources. We preach that children are our future, but how can we say that without properly educating them to carry us on? This was a very cool assignment to be apart of…”
“Even after my assignment, I would still love to help make a difference in Eliminating Book Deserts. To the great minds and exceptional educators who continue to promote reading and access to books, keep this going Thank You!” – Melissa Jones
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be apart of the Eliminating Books Desert. This project is an awesome way to give back to communities. Upon entering this course, I was not aware of how many schools were in need of books or how important this epidemic is. It is very important that we continue to make others aware of this project so that we can eliminate the book desert.” -Laterrias Gilbert
“Having access to books is very important in a child’s development and I think that it’s only fair that all children, no matter their differences should have this access. Reading is so important in stimulating a child’s imagination, exposing them to a range of vocabulary, gaining knowledge, enhance communication skills, as well as preparing teens for the real world. And it’s really sad to think that some children don’t have this opportunity. I myself am not the best reader and get nervous reading aloud. I believe that if I had more access to books then I would be a lot better in my speech and vocabulary.”-Nicola Steele
“It has been an awaking experience to be apart of the Eliminating Book Desert project. This project not only involves our class but the community and children without books. There is a bigger picture that needs to be resolved and that is making sure the low-income schools have proper income to maintain a successful school year. It saddens me that there are still issues within the low-income school areas that aren’t getting the attention that is needed like the more evolved and suburban districts”-Dominique Watkins
“Reading is such an important foundation and this project that Professor flowers has us joining is probably one of the most life-changing charities out there. Reading is such an important structure to children and adults. Thank you for the opportunity, looking forward to donating again.” -Jennifer Gonzalez
“Book Deserts are unfortunately taking over our low-income neighborhoods and leaving children in some of our communities without learning resources. Having the opportunity to donate to #EliminatingBookDeserts was an awesome experience and I believe we will reach our goal of a thousand books donated.”-Shanyce Smith
“I am glad I was able to participate in the Eliminating Book Deserts Project. Altogether, I collected 35 books to donate. I asked parents from my classroom at my school, East Cobb Prep, to participate. Each family brought in an average of 2 books and I delivered them to Alpharetta campus. I hope they helped contribute to the 1000 book goal.”-Kathleen O’Brien
“All in all, this was an honorable experience. I felt great about myself knowing that I contributed to something for our youth.” -Kendre’ Walker
“Having access to books is very important in a child’s development and I think that it’s only fair that all children, no matter their differences should have this access. Reading is so important in stimulating a child’s imagination, exposing them to a range of vocabulary, gaining knowledge, enhance communication skills, as well as preparing teens for the real world. And it’s really sad to think that some children don’t have this opportunity. I myself am not the best reader and get nervous reading aloud. I believe that if I had more access to books then I would be a lot better in my speech and vocabulary.” -Nicola Steele
“I really enjoyed this project. Not only did I enjoy this project but I believe in this project.” -Tasheena Wynne
“Donating books for the book deserts project was important for me because it’s important for children to have the resources they need. Knowing that some schools have limited books for students is heartbreaking to me. Having enough books for students to read can go a long way. They can use books for assignments and to read on their own. This project is a reason for me to make sure that I have well over enough books for my future students in our class library. I feel good about my decision to participate in donating books for the students.” -Quonesha Carter
“Children growing up in book deserts, desperately need access to books to close the achievement gap between them and their affluent peers.” -Stacey Wilson
“For this project, I actually asked my friends to help contribute to this book drive. Surprisingly, many of them were very willing and in fact excited to give away their books. All of them are now college students but still held onto their books from childhood and when they were in high school. One of my friends actually brought all of his books from his bookshelf and donated a big box of books. I believe the main reason they were so excited and willing to give away their books was because for them, they didn’t need the books anymore but did not know what to do with them. They were more than happy that someone wanted their books and could help them get rid of it and it was also for an amazing cause. I explained to my friends why I was collecting books and all of them had never heard of the term book desert and were surprised to hear that “there is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children in some low-income, urban schools.”
As someone who was privileged enough growing up to go to the library every week, it’s really heartbreaking to hear that many children do not get that opportunity. I loved to read so much that my mom would take me to a public library every week and I would pick out 5-6 books and have them finished by the end of every week. I believe it so important for all students to be able to have access to reading books to help them expand their knowledge and creativity. Reading books can be an outlet for students, it can help them understand other’s points of views, they can feel inspired and uplifted from seeing a character that represents them. It is so crucial that these resources are available to everyone and I was so happy to be a part of this book drive to help make it happen.”
“The Book Desert reading project is something I am very excited to be a part of…” -Alexis Malone
“I wish I could have contributed more but I am very proud of the 50 good books that I personally help collect for this book drive. I hope if I take the third part of this class next year I hope to collect 50 + more books so that the kids that receive them can really see them selfs while reading these books and relate to the characters. -Aushana White
“I think the eliminating book deserts is a great project every child deserves to have access to all types of books and the opportunity to learn how read. Every family might not be able to afford to buy their children books so it’s great that everyone can come together and help provide for them and also some schools don’t have enough books for all the students. This project is something they should be doing everywhere and not just as a school assignment.” -Danyelle Sealy
“Before this assignment, I was not aware that of the limited access our students have to age-appropriate books. I would visit my elementary school’s library weekly and was constantly checking out books to read. This carried into middle school and I eventually fell in love with English classes. I’d like to attribute my vocabulary to my many years of reading as a child. I am shocked to see the current number of students who will suffer in vocabulary and articulation because of the lack of books. Reading is more than just understanding the plot and characters in a book. A child who can read a book out loud proficiently is more likely to articulate words and thoughts better. When I dropped off books today at the library, I was so thrilled to see such a diversity of books donated for local schools. If our society contributed to a cause like this, I believe our school libraries would not be facing the crisis going on. My hope is that when I become an educator, I will not have to teach in a book desert school.”
“Prior to this project, I had not considered the implications for these discrepancies because I had access to quality books growing up. Though I did not own many books of my own, my schools and teachers had sizeable libraries that I could borrow from. I went to the public library often throughout the school year and summer months. Because of my access to books, I knew that books were out there- it was just a matter of finding them and making the best of the resources like the school and public libraries.” -Jasmine Williams
“My experience with the eliminating book deserts project was eye-opening. I didn’t know that there was such a lack of books in schools all around the country. This is a major problem because books can be such a great part of the learning of children. Before the internet, books are all we had, and they are still appreciated all around the world today. They can spark creativity and imagination in children as well as help them learn about subjects they are being taught in school.” -Linda Wheeler
“For this assignment, we were to collect books that can be used at libraries where they are needed due to low supply of them. If you are in a low-income area or where the crime rate can be high, often times students don’t have supplies that other students can have because they live in a better district. I think this was a great idea to collect books that some people don’t use anymore to give to those who do need them. Most books that I was able to collect were from neighbors whose kids have grown out of those types of genre of books. I was also able to donate some books that I haven’t opened since middle school. I hope with this project we were able to collect enough books so that those kids who need them can receive them to gain more knowledge.” -Cindy Ventura
“After having the privilege to learn about book deserts, I now have a more of an appreciation for not only books but also the area in which I live. It is very unfortunate that schools today are in a book desert. This means that the school has limited books for the children attending and the books that they have may not be age appropriate. With this service project, I donated gently used books that were not being used in my house so that other children could have the opportunity to learn and increase their vocabulary. Moving forward, my goal is to donate books every month to school so that they can get out of the book desert. I believe that by doing this, it will spread awareness and the outcome will be a positive chain reaction.” -Reilly Mesaros
“The importance of eliminating dessert books is providing an opportunity, for every child to read and develop a love for books. Children can’t do that if they are not exposed to libraries in schools or having access in the community.” -Zoee Grouch
“I grew up in a home with too many books and frequently visited the library, I couldn’t imagine a shortage of reading material. I’m glad to see many taking initiative to help eliminate this problem.” -Andreena Anderson
“This project has been by far my favorite. I am currently a substitute teacher in Cherokee County and Forsyth County, I get to see first hand how slim the book selections are in the classrooms. It is something I never paid attention to until now. Being aware of this issue encourages me to do more about it. I want to be able to help and be apart to create more diversity in our school libraries so that students have a larger platform to learn from. I would love to create an organization in my community in order to help collect books for our students. It would be a great way to get adults and kids involved.” -Tiffany Pierce
“I had no idea the “Citi Trends” sold new African American books at a meager price. I went to four different “Citi Trends” around the city of Atlanta and purchased approximately thirty African American books to donate to “eliminating the book desert” in hopes that I make a difference in a child’s life.” -Bobbie Alford and Daughter (Teaching her how to eliminate book deserts)
“I really enjoyed this project because it taught me something new. I just assumed school were provided a plethora of books to have accessible for children. That is not always the case and this project is a great way to make a change.” – Andrianna Pinckney
Shamique Samuels
“During the summer months, I work as a summer instructor/summer tutor for a nonprofit organization called Saving Grey, Inc. SGI have a summer school program. SGI who works with children who have parents incarcerated. They also do Toys for Tots during the Christmas holidays and gives to children who have parents incarcerated and their last two days of their toy drive they give to any needed children. Well during SGI’s toy pick up last year, they were given more books than toys. I remembered this, so I asked my supervisor could SGI donate some books to me for my school assignment book drive? I was told yes. Ms. Fox told me that I could have that box over there. After getting the box home and opening it, I have 16 books to donate. Thirteen of the books are for high-schoolers and three are for middle-schoolers. All from different authors. Some funny and some are not. It feels good to give period. I am so excited.” – Jaqueline Brengettsy
Dalia Vega
Martha Elena Rodriguez
