Bernie’s Book Bank

“You get a bag of books! And you get a bag of books! Everybody gets a bag of books!” I feel like Oprah when passing out Bernie’s Book Bank bags!

Harrison School is so lucky to be partnered with Bernie’s again this year. Bernie’s Book Bank is an amazing organization that provides bags of six books to PK-6th grade students in Title I schools two times per year.  These new and gently used books are donated to Bernie’s and volunteers help sort and fill bag the books. Many studies show that book ownership is an important predictor of reading success. Many low income families don’t have many books in their homes so Bernie’s is filling a big need for us.

Several staff members from Harrison School had a wonderful opportunity volunteering at Bernie’s this summer for a few hours. While there, some of us helped sort out donated books that were in poor condition or not appropriate for PK-6th grade students. Others helped put Bernie’s stickers on the books. It was interesting to see their well-organized system and we all agreed that we’d love to volunteer there again!

Earlier in the summer, Bernie’s contacted us to see if we’d be willing to get our first donation before the school year started. They are trying to service more schools and they need more days to deliver. Of course, we said YES! School started for us on Wednesday and students received their bag of books on Thursday and Friday.

What a GREAT way to start the year! Our lucky students now we have new books to read at home and we are start the year by reinforcing a love of reading through book ownership.

We are so thankful for this great organization and we are looking forward to a great year of reading!!