The President's Staff Advisory Council, in partnership with the Brown Bookstore, is launching a pilot program to collect book donations to put 500 books in the new library at a Central Falls middle school, the Segue Institute for Learning.
The Brown Bookstore will offer customers the chance to donate books — either a personal preference or one chosen from the wish list provided by the Segue Institute — at a discount of 15 percent until Dec. 31, said Heather Hower, chair of the Staff Advisory Council. For each book purchased for the school, customers will receive 15 percent off their next purchase at the bookstore.
The Segue Institute is a charter school that opened in 2009. Its library is currently unfinished, said Angelo Garcia, co-founder and head of the school. This project will help fill the library and demonstrate the importance of reading and literacy to Segue students, he said. Central Falls, which filed for bankruptcy in July, is the state's smallest and poorest city.
The project is "an innovative way to help them meet their targeted needs," said Tanitia Sello, director of budget and finance in the graduate school, who spearheaded the partnership.
The Department of Education contacted the advisory council in January to ask the council to take on the project, Sello said. The department viewed the initiative as a pilot program for a larger literacy project that will extend to other schools called "Building Rhode Island — Book by Book," she said.
Reading specialists, teachers and librarians at the institute compiled the wish list, Garcia said. The list contains not only academic titles, but also books for "pleasure reading" to expand students' horizons, Hower said.
The advisory council and the bookstore will use Morning Mail, posters and banners in the bookstore to advertise the initiative to students, faculty and community members.
A kick-off event in the bookstore, featuring readings and visits by Segue Institute officials, teachers and students will take place Friday at 4 p.m.
