We have a school!

Today was a great day for Library Build. First, Library Build is one of Whole Foods Callowhill's Nickels for Nonprofits, which means customers can donate their bag refunds to Library Build! So bring in your bags when you go shopping! I went in today and did a short little interview about Library Build. Not so sure that I will win for any prizes for interviewing or speech-giving skills, but at least word will get out :) We are also making plans to do a book drive for Library Build at Whole Foods - amazing! Keep an eye out, we hope to get it started soon!

Second, and the best news ever. We officially have a school! William Rowen Elementary School in NW Philadelphia. I have been working with them for about a year now, but because of different issues, its been hard to pin down any sort of agreement. Well, I met the new principal today, and we are going for it. The new principal is ready to make a change for the better for his new students, and is very excited to be working with us!

First picture of Rowen's library. 

I will put together a summary/profile of Rowen for another blog post, so for now let me just discuss the library itself. As you can see from the picture above - they have a library!!! However, it is old, musty (very musty!), the furniture is old/broken, and the books themselves are all yellow with age. Most of the books are about 10 to 25 years old. They have a set of encyclopedias that are from 1986. Obviously they aren't useful!!

The library itself is fairly small, but at least its not cluttered!

The great thing about this library is that we will be able to go through the existing collection to see what is salvageable, giving Library Build a good head start.
The other awesome fact about Rowen School is that they have an amazing collection of Mac computers that were donated only a few years ago, so all of our money can go to books, kindles, nooks, and renovations!

The librarian's (eventual) corner

I will post more pictures with the profile of the school, so keep an eye out! Some great things are happening for Library Build, and for Rowen!