By: Madison Villarba
If the number of books on the shelves in my room are any indication, reading is something I love to do. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to read. Not only has reading improved my vocabulary and writing, but these stories have also provided me with endless hours of entertainment. I know I’ve been very fortunate to have access to a great number of books throughout the years. That’s why I felt so lucky this year to share my love of reading with the greater community.
One of the first projects I became involved with when I joined the Knott Scholar Council was last year’s annual Knott Scholar Book Drive. I worked with Mr. Bill Macsherry, local business Charm City Books, and the Knott Scholarship Fund’s partner for the school year. Coordinating with these great people in order to provide the students at that school with new books of their own was a wonderful experience, and I was excited to do so again this year with KSF’s newest partner for the book drive collection: Mother Mary Lange Catholic School.
Like in the previous year, I worked with multiple people to help coordinate the collection of 198 books—including classics like Oh, The Places You’ll Go and Frog and Toad are Friends—for students at Mother Mary Lange from Pre-K through second grade. After all the books were purchased and delivered, I was especially fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Mother Mary Lange campus in Baltimore, Maryland. On the morning of June 7th, Mr. Macsherry and I worked to organize and distribute the books among the kids, just a couple of days before their last day of school. We visited nine classrooms, and we delivered the books while talking to the kids about the joys of summer reading.
My favorite part about the experience was seeing the look on each kid’s face as they were handed their own book. There is something truly special about having something to call one’s own, and this was no different. Each and every student was thrilled to receive their book, a gift sure to help spark each individual’s own love of reading. The day was certainly a success and one I hoped touched the kids’ lives as much as it did mine.