Article published by abc2news.com
WOODLAWN, Md. – Students in Mrs. Ward’s third grade class at Imagine Discovery Public Charter School are busy reading books. Thanks to donations from the Baltimore Reads’ Book Bank, students can develop a love for reading and life long learning.
“I like the books in my classroom because they always make me wonder what happens next,” said Alana Muhammad, third grader.
The Baltimore Reads’ Book Bank is tucked away in downtown Baltimore. It collects new and used books and gives them to schools, teachers, Head Start Centers and to families who can’t afford home libraries.
“The average child from a lower income home needs these books to help their vocabulary and love of learning. We try to build up their resources,” said Mark Feiring, Director of Operations for Baltimore Reads’ Book Bank.
Leah Kahl-Devine Ward has 22 students in her class. She visits the Book Bank often to stock her classroom library. She has about 200 books in her classroom from the Book Bank with anything from nonfiction, fiction and sports.
Ward visits the Book Bank before holidays, encouraging students to take a book home with them to read.
“The nice thing about the donations is they have lots of choices of books they can read. They have many authors, titles and topics to select. It really fits the needs of the class and the differences that are among them,” said Leah Kahl-Devine Ward with Imagine Discovery Public Charter School in Woodlawn.
The Baltimore Reads’ Book Bank has distributed more than 1.6 million children’s books free of charge over the past 20 years.
Earlier in May, the Books for Kids Day received large donations of books.