Free Book Giveaways Starting Soon At 12 Free-Meal Sites

Public school students hungry for reading will be able to pick up one free book per person from 12 different schools-turned-meal distribution sites starting Friday, thanks to a new partnership among New Haven Reads, Read to Grow, and New Haven Public Schools.

New Haven Reads Executive Director Kirsten Levinsohn, Read to Grow Executive Director Suzannah Holsenbeck, and NHPS Chief Operating Officer Michael Pinto announced that new initiative Wednesday afternoon during Mayor Justin Elicker’s daily coronavirus-related virtual press briefing, held online via the Zoom teleconferencing app and on YouTube Live.

Elicker said the city now has a total of 1,826 confirmed positive Covid-19 cases and 74 related fatalities.

Levinsohn (pictured) and Holsenbeck said that the book giveaway will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Friday from this week through the end of June.

The K‑8 grade level books will be given out by New Haven Reads and Read to Grow volunteers at the following 12 NHPS sites distributing free to-go meals to families during the pandemic:

Besty Ross at 150 Kimberly Ave.
Bishop Woods at 1481 Quinnipiac Ave.
Clinton Ave at 293 Clinton Ave.
Columbus Academy at 255 Blatchley Ave.
Fair Haven School at 164 Grand Ave.
John C. Daniels School at 569 Congress Ave.
John S. Martinez School at 100 James St.
Lincoln Bassett School at 130 Bassett St.
Roberto Clemente at 360 Columbus Ave.
Truman School at 114 Truman St.
Wexler/Grant at 55 Foote St.
Wilbur Cross at 181 Mitchell Dr.

Levinsohn said that NHPS and the two literacy nonprofits picked these 12 locations after taking into consideration two overriding concerns: ​“We were trying to provide books in a wide geographic area. … And we were also looking at which schools provided the most meals.”

Each of these sites gives out between 100 and 500 meals a day, she said.

“It’s a very fluid list,” Levinsohn added, indicating that the list could grow to include more school sites for the free book distribution.

Levinson and Holsenbeck (pictured) said that each student will get one book each: at the New Haven Reads sites, that book will come from the the organization’s existing book bank and will be pre-selected and placed in paper bags to be given to each family; at the Read to Grow sites, volunteers will be giving out one title per grade level group, with K — 2nd grade being one group, 3rd through 5th another, and 6th through 8th a third.

They said that their organizations’ volunteers will have personal protective equipment and will hand out the books outside of the respective buildings, rain or shine.

People interested in volunteering or donating books can reach out directly to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Click here to read a previous story about how New Haven Reads has continued its literacy tutoring sessions for public school students online during the pandemic.

Other updates included:

• Mayor Elicker was asked about Yale President Rick Levin and former Yale Vice President Linda Lorimer’s new advisory report on how best to institute a phased reopening of colleges and universities throughout Connecticut and about what the city’s responsibility is, if any, in ensuring a safe reopening of Yale, Southern Connecticut State University, Albertus Magnus, and Gateway Community College. Elicker (pictured) said he has not yet read the report, but that he thinks ​“we bear a mutual responsibility to help each other out.”

“I’ve spoken with [Yale President] Peter Salovey a number of times about the fact that we are very ready to support Yale in whatever way it needs to ensure that” students can return safely and that classes can resume in person next fall, Elicker said.

“There have been no requests about specific actions we could take. But we’re very, very open to helping support all of the universities.”

• When asked about the indefinite end of the privately-run Bike New Haven bike sharing program in the city, Elicker said, ​“It’s an unfortunate loss. My hope is that it’s a temporary loss.”

He said that city officials are currently reviewing the Bike New Haven contract to figure out how best to move forward in regards to the dozens of eight-by-four advertisement panels that remain standing at bike-less bike share stations throughout the city.

“It’s quite clear that New Haven embraces cycling as an alternative form of transportation,” he said.