Summer Reading: Easy as 1-2-3! |
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Kids and families don't have to go far to find books and programming to encourage summer reading. Local NOVA public libraries are a great place to start, and they all have programs with prizes and other incentives for kids to read, read, read! Click on the images below to find programs in our four local jurisdictions...and have some summer reading fun! |
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NOVA RIF Schools are Giving out Books for Summer, Too! |
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Many of our NOVA RIF schools held end-of-year celebrations to distribute books. Just look at the faces to see the happiness that choosing a brand new book can generate! |
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Cora Kelly School for Math, Science, and Technology (Alexandria) / Liaison Cathy Guthrie |
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Swanson Middle School (Arlington) English Language Learners / Liaison: Jennifer Stacy |
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Polk Elementary School (Alexandria) / Liaison: Leslie Broughton |
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Marumsco Hills Elementary School (Prince William County) / Liaison: Sharon Nottingham
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Note: Photos from other NOVA RIF book distributions from academic year 2022-2023 may be found by clicking here. S pecial thanks to all our liaisons for setting up such creative and exciting events to make reading such a fun and interesting activity for our children.
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Summer Books in the Community |
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Thanks to the generosity of our RIF of NOVA community, we have been able to provide like-new, gently used books at several area events where books have been eagerly chosen by book-hungry children and families! |
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RIF of NOVA was delighted to provide books for kids at a community Meet and Greet to help welcome incoming Carlin Springs ES principal Carmen De La Cruz, already sporting her Cardinals shirt! With popsicles, music, balloons, and books for all, it was a wonderful way to introduce a new RIF of NOVA school leader! All books were provided via the RIF of NOVA gently used book program. |
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A "Summer Thrive" event at River Oaks ES in PWC included a RIF of NOVA team with hundreds of books for children and families, provided from our gently used book program. It was a happy event...except when one little one dropped her book and was none too happy. We get it! It's what happens when you don't have your book in hand! |
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A Summer Recommendation!
NOVA RIF Young Ambassador McKenzie Watt has her own recommendation for a good summer read. The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Hiuera won the American Library Association"s Newbery and Pura Belpré awards in 2022. McKenzie writes that it's a dystopian novel that follows the life of a young girl who, along with her family, is a passenger on a spaceship destined for a new planet billions of miles from earth. G eared for grades 5 and up, this book sounds like a blast! Read McKenzie's review by clicking here!
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Book Drives by Two English Honor Societies! |
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Kieran Warner is a member of the James Madison High School National English Honor Society. She and her colleagues collected bags and bags of gently used books to redistribute to NOVA kids! Kieran wrote: "For our book drive, we put donation boxes around our school and at a local book store (Bards Alley Bookshop in Vienna, VA) to get our community engaged and to further spread our honor society's love of English." |
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Meanwhile, a group from the Fairfax High School English Honor Society did much the same, collecting boxes and boxes of books for local children. We are grateful to these high school students who are making a difference for children in our community who have few, to no, books at home. |
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Interested in holding a book drive? |
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If you are interested in donating new or very gently used children's books or in setting up a book drive to do so, we have set up some new guidelines to make the process easier. It's found on our Give Books website page. Click here to get there!
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Memorial Gifts for Two Revered Educators |
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Jim and Karen Calpin gave a gift to RIF of NOVA in memory of Jim's aunt, Mary McElhinney of Vandling, PA. She was a retired elementary school teacher who taught for over 25 years in the school districts around Joliet, IL. In retirement, she taught computer classes to senior citizens at the Forest City (PA) Library and was leader of the library's book club. She also aided with the library's children's reading program. She will always be remembered as someone who loved libraries, reading, learning, and teaching. Her memory now lives on in new books for RIF of NOVA children. |
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Dr. Jeannette Regetz, an Arlington Public Schools Chapter I Reading Specialist, passed away April 8. During her long career as an educator, which included earning a PhD at Virginia Tech University, Jeannette always pursued innovative ways to help her students. She trained as a Reading Recovery teacher and worked one-on-one with first graders who were having difficulty learning to read. Jeannette was also involved with RIF of NOVA, first as a school liaison and then as a liaison for the APS Language Arts program. Her family has requested that she be remembered with a memorial donation to RIF of NOVA. To do that, please click here.
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If you'd like to give a donation in memory or in celebration of a special person, please let us know at rifnova@gmail.com. Through such a gift, the love of reading, books, and literature can be passed to a new generation of young readers in the Northern Virginia community.
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*Send a check to our mailbox:
RIF of NOVA
P. O. Box 7012
Arlington, VA 22207-0012
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Thank you for any donation -- no matter how big or small! And thank you for being part of the RIF of NOVA community!
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Please share the RAP! Forward our newsletter to your friends and anyone interested in providing books to children who need them!
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