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2010 Artwork

Get out the pencils and crayons!

It’s time for the 2011 Read-A-Thon Artwork Contest!

Selected artwork will be featured on 2011 Read-A-Thon t-shirt and all promotional materials.

Download Contests Information Art Contest 2011

BookSpring Announces the 2011 Read-A-Thon Dates

January 24-February 4, 2011

In 2010, Austin area students read more than 1.5 Million Pages and raised over $134,000 to benefit BookSpring literacy programs.

More Info.  Mark your calendar for 2011 Read-A-Thon

Contact donna.emery@bookspring.org

 6:30 hors d’oeuvres and cash bar, 7:30 play

Proceeds benefit BookSpring’s mission to champion early literacy to empower children with a lifelong love of reading.

For more information: BookSpring Benefit at Austin Playhouse

http://www.austinplayhouse.com/

Shelves cluttered with gently loved children’s books?

Clean those shelves, box up the books, or host a book drive and call

 472-1791.

BookSpring places gently used books into the hands of children through 29 medical clinics located throughout the Greater Austin area.  Children who may not otherwise have books in their homes,  visit clinics, select  children’s books and depart from a doctor visit happy and anxious to READ their new treasure!

BookSpring Book Drive Flyer                                                                            

Easy Steps to Making a Book and Fund Drive

On behalf of BookSpring, Zavala second grader, Natalie Santander, accepted $500 pledge from Sylvan Learning Centers  for her efforts during the 2010 Read-A-Thon.  Representing Sylvan Learning, Mark Strama presented Natalie with the check and a certificate praising Natalie’s accomplishment in reading 500 pages.

In January, during a visit to Zavala  for the Read-A-Thon Kick-Off,  Mr. Strama challenged the students in Mrs. Raspberry’s class to read as many pages as they could during the Read-A-Thon. Taking the challenge a step further, Mr. Strama pledged a DOLLAR per page to BookSpring for the student who read the most pages.

Natalie, listening very carefully, was inspired by the challenge and carefully recorded her reading each and every day for two weeks. At the conclusion of the event, Natalie presented her pledge envelope to the librarian and reminded Mrs. Crosby of the challenge offered by Sylvan Learning Centers.

Natalie accepted her certificate and the $500 check on behalf of BookSpring.   Sylvan’s support and Natalie’s hard work ensure that fellow Zavala classmates will receive brand new books through the Reading Is Fundamental program.

During RIF week offered three times a year, Natalie knows her efforts helped bring the new books provided to her fellow students!

Good job Natalie and thank you Sylvan Learning for helping to instill the love of reading!

In no particular order, I have seen these families this year at Children’s Wellness. We are out in the sticks in Del Valle. Many of our families live in old trailers. Many do not have safe water systems… The septic systems run out into the front yard. The kids are loved but resources are nonexistent. There is no grocery, no library and no safe place to play. The only source of books is the local Dollar General store or the school library during the school year.

• I had a 5 year old last week take my book offering, kiss it and twirl around like a ballerina singing “My book, my book, my beautiful new book!”

• The school nurses tell us that the children carry their RIF** books in their backpacks so that they are sure they can keep them when they have to move. They tell us that the librarians see the kids pulling out library books on library day with backpacks stuffed with their treasured books from RIF.

• A grandmother of now 6 kids including one with cancer said that the books from the hospital and the clinic were one of the things that was keeping the family going. She said it was one of the blessings that had been given her in the midst of all the struggles in her life and the child’s life.

• Another grandmother clutched at the books I offered her grandchildren. When I found out that they had almost no books I went back to my stash of gently used books and pulled out some for the older children. Grandmother began to cry. She said, “You don’t know what this means to them kids. They want learning and I can’t give them none.” I gave her the whole box full of books. We were both crying.

• I saw a toddler grab my book, right it in his hands, turn around and push it into his mother’s lap, squirm up and pull on her arm to get her to start to read. I didn’t have to assess this young 15 year-old mom and her baby. I could tell without saying a single thing that this amazing teen mom was giving all she had to help her young son. They are going to do ok – both of them. The young mom has dreams of finishing high school and becoming a dental assistant. She will probably do just fine.

• [Reach Out and Read] is the most wonderful thing I do in pediatrics. Second to the immunizations and protection from disease, this is a game changer for our families. I give nightly thanks that I am allowed to participate in such a wonderful program.

*Reach Out and Read

**Reading Is Fundamental

With pledges still arriving, BookSpring can now report that  $132,079.55 was raised by students from 32 Austin and Eanes schools. Pledges stay in the Greater Austin area to support BookSpring’s literacy programs.

And it gets better- for the two weeks of the Read-A-Thon,  Austin students logged an estimated 1,516,526 pages! Amazing!

Area teachers and librarians have shared many touching stories and experiences from the Read-A-Thon.  These are just a few:

• One child read 160 pages and collected $1.60 from relatives to contribute to her school’s RIF program
• A fifth grader set a goal to read 1,000 pages a day every day and read 21,000 pages- the librarian will vouch for this student’s reading!
• A second grader collected $16.25 from every relative, friend and neighbor and collected over $700!
• A fifth grader took great care to record his pledges on a detailed spread sheet- total over $1000
• A student said to me “so let me get this right- if I help give books to little kids, I might help them stay in school and not drop out?”
• A mother sent a testimony that the Read-A-Thon goal inspired her daughter and she read more pages than she had ever read before- now she can’t put her books down.

Thank you Austin!

Over 35,000 Austin area children and families will share the joy of books thanks to your support!

No child should grow up without books!

Mr. Batiansila’s fifth grade class raised $1000 and read over 2000 pages during the two weeks of the Read-A-Thon.

Thanks youDell for the support and generous donation to the Read-A-Thon.