Whether it’s the ever-popular “Harry Potter” series, a classic like “Winnie the Pooh” or a modern bestseller like “A Ball for Daisy,” books continue to play an important role in children’s lives.
For the past seven years, the Monmouth County Library Children’s Department and New Jersey Natural Gas Co. have been partners in the “Share a Story” book donation program, which helps get books into the hands of children who might not otherwise have them.
“ ‘Share a Story’ is a wonderful experience on many levels for the library to partner with local agencies in getting books into the hands of deserving children,” said Pat Findra, children’s coordinator for the Monmouth
County Library. “It brings together our library patrons, school children and teachers, business executives, volunteers, and community leaders in a worthy effort: to make reading a focus in every child’s life.”
Thomas F. Hayes, director of customer and community relations for New Jersey Natural Gas Co. in Wall Township, has been working with the library over the past seven years for “Share a Story” and estimates that more than 20,000 books have been donated, sorted and distributed through the program.
“Reading is the key to every child’s success. Any role in this important effort, whether it is donating a book, volunteering to sort the books, delivering the books or reading the books to children, is one step closer to helping our next generations flourish,” Hayes said.
The Monmouth County Library encourages patrons to drop off gently used or new books— both hard cover and paperback — to special “Share a Story” collection bins in the Children’s Department. Library volunteers sort the books by age level, and the books are then picked up by New Jersey Natural Gas employees, who provide the labor and transportation to make sure the books are distributed around the entire county.
More than a dozen organizations have benefited from the “Share a Story” collections, Hayes said, including The Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA, Family and Children’s Services, Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch, and Open Door Pantry in Freehold.
Hayes cited this testimonial to the program: “These books are a godsend. This gives us an opportunity to hand each child in our Reading Buddies program a book that they can have for their own,” according to a Family and Children’s Services reading program coordinator.
Findra noted that the “Share a Story” program began as a literacy initiative by the Public Broadcasting Service and New Jersey Network. It was coupled with the popular “Reading Rainbow” children’s program hosted by actor LeVar Burton, who served as national chairman for “Share a Story.”
Hayes said NJNG began sponsoring the program under the NJN initiative. His company has worked with several libraries over the years with the program, “but only the Monmouth County Library has made it part of their daily routine, and we thank them for it.”
NJNG also recently partnered with the library in the fall of 2011 to support an inventions competition that was part of the library’s “New Jersey: The State of Invention” programming series.
For more information on the “Share a Story” book collection program at the Monmouth County Library, call the Children’s Department at 732-431-7220, ext. 7226.