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Community Corner

Library Book Drive Aims to Give Gift of Reading

A book drive by the Grosse Pointe Public Library branches will give kids in Detroit Public Schools a book of their own to take home for winter break. Grosse Pointe trick-or-treaters got their free books this year courtesy of the Friends of the Library.

Donating a new or like-new book at the branches now through December will give kids in Detroit Public Schools a gift of reading.

The goal of this year's Detroit Free Press Gift of Reading program is to collect 25,000 new books so each student in pre-K through third grade in Detroit Public Schools will receive a new book of their own to take home at winter break.

The Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library and the Library’s Teen Advisory Board are once again spearheading the Gift of Reading drive in the Grosse Pointe communities. Collection boxes have been placed in the Central, Ewald and Woods branches of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. New or like-new books will be accepted at the libraries through Dec. 8.

In addition, the Teen Advisory Board is working with students in the and high schools to encourage classmates to participate through their school libraries during the month of November.

This is an annual event for the Grosse Pointe Library community, which has collected thousands of books over the years, generously donated by patrons and library supporters.  The new books collected in prior years have gone to homeless shelters, Head Start programs, agencies serving families with youngsters, school libraries in desperate need of resources and other agencies serving children ages 0 to 12.

The Gift of Reading collection is being coordinated by Woods Branch librarian Patricia McClary and she can be contacted at 313.343.2072, ext. 205 for more information.

One of the goals of the Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library is to encourage children to read. To that end, they sponsor the Trick or Read book distribution at the annual Grosse Pointe Village Halloween walk. They have partnered with the library annually to collect new books for the Detroit Free Press Gift of Reading program, and they have contributed to the purchase of children’s books for other library projects.

The Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library is a non-profit volunteer organization. They invite new friends to join, participate in their activities and have fun in support of the public library. 

Membership benefits include free DVD rentals on the first Thursday of the month, first pick at Friends used book sales, free admittance to all classics books lectures and contemporary book lectures, and an invitation to the annual meeting and program.

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For information on the Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library, see the website at gpfriends.org, call 313-343-2074 ext. 6, or write to: Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library, 10 Kercheval Ave., Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236.

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