Day After

It's the day after MLK Day - and some people might wonder, "well, what do you do all day now?"

Here's your answer.

 Yesterday we left all the books on the floor so that the paint on the bookshelves could dry all night.(The white stuff on the floor is carpet cleaner - and I could not find a working vacuum cleaner in the building).

 So. many. books. on. the. floor.

 And after!

 Yes, I did all of this. In 3 hours.

Happy books.

MLK Day 2012

MLK Day 2012 was a success! We cleared out the book cases, cleaned the book cases, and started painting them a wonderful blue! We also got plenty of book sorted, and some donated books processed! 

We will be planning a few smaller volunteer events in the next few months to finish the painting, and to go through the book collection again. Weeding a library is a lot harder than it sounds!!

 The day begins! All the book cases empty!

 Rowen students who came out on their day off to help!

This little guy was so proud of himself - though I'm sure mom won't be pleased about the paint on his shirt!

 Book sorting.

 Books to keep in the library!

 New color on the book shelves!

 The corner in front of the librarian's desk!

 New and old colors!

All cleared out and ready for paint!

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped!

Special thanks to:

Lisa Doi 

Jimmy Bereolos

Theo Thompson

Megan Trainer (and Tim!)

Ty Gambrell 

Kathy Barnes 

Jeff Hammond

Deirdre Childs

Official Press Release!

Rowen Elementary School Celebrates

17^TH ANNUAL GREATER PHILADELPHIA MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY OF SERVICE

Philadelphia, PA– Rowen Elementary School, EducationWorks, and Library Build will join together to make significant improvements to the school at the upcoming 17^th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service. This is the first time ROWEN ELEMENTARY has ever been open to celebrate the day.

             Volunteers will be working to revamp Rowen’s School Library, to paint the doors in the building, to clean inside and outside the building, and to add portraits to the school’s “Wall of Achievement”. Under the first-year leadership of Principal James G. Murray, Jr., this year represents a milestone for a school, which has never before participated in the Day of Service. With the involvement of two non-profit agencies, EducationWorks and Library Build, Rowen seeks to establish a new tradition of service in commemorating the day. The Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service includes projects throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware that includes participants of all ages.

The national King Day of Service was created in 1994 through federal legislation co-authored by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, both veterans of the civil rights movement with Dr. King.

Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service, founder and director Todd Bernstein, who is also president of Global Citizen, announced that a national record 85,000 volunteers are expected to participate in some 1,300 community service projects throughout the region on Monday, January 16^th, King Federal Holiday. This represents an increase of some 10,000 volunteers and one hundred projects from last year’s turnout. 

Holiday Greetings and Thank You!

2011 has been a great year for Library Build, Inc, and we want to thank everyone who has volunteered, served on the board, followed up with me on emails when I never respond (oops), donated, and helped out in so many ways! Thank you!

Here's a quick run-down of our successes this year, hopefully I won't leave any out!:

- Received a seed grant from the Weinberg Foundation
- Began a partnership with William Rowen School 
- Met with the principal of the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush in hopes of a partnership for 2012
- Had our first site visit from a grant-giving foundation
- Received publicity from The Philadelphia Inquirer 
- Received a donation from the Nickels for Nonprofits program of Whole Foods Callowhill
- Collected over 300 books from a book drive at Whole Foods Callowhill, and from our friends at the Oak Lane Branch of the Free Library
- Recruited and worked with new board members who are planning some exciting things in 2012 - keep an eye out!
- Held a book fair at Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia, and received over $400 just from gift wrapping donations!
- Received a grant from the Samuel S. Fels Fund
- Over 170 hours volunteered to Library Build in 2011, and more to come in 2012!

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Success!

Wow - its already Friday! Where did the week go?

We had three successful gift-wrapping days, and made more than $400 dollars in donations!

A special thanks to everyone who came out and volunteered for Library Build:

Alpha Phi Omega @ UPenn
W Girls
Ty Gambrell
Megan Trainer
Theo Thompson
Kathy Barnes
Lisa Doi
Karinn Figdore
Karen Bloemker

If I forgot someone, please let me know!!

Also, you have one more day to shop online at Barnes and Noble in support of Library Build! Just use code 10570174


Thanks for everyone's support, and get ready for MLK Day of Service!!

Quick Update

It's been a lull week in terms of news for the blog, but things have been progressing from my end. Not only have we received some great donations, we are also getting alot of volunteer interest in the gift wrapping days, and MLK Day! I still need help on the mornings of the gift wrapping days though - so feel free to pass this along to others!
I had a great meeting last week with a content specialist for public school libraries in the School District - and got some great information about how to weed existing collections. Our MLK Day volunteers will get trained in this, and hopefully we can continue even beyond MLK Day!