Give Back, Give Books is Rochester Education Foundation's program to give books to city school students to take home or for city school libraries. Launched in 2006, we accept and distribute new

books, encourage exciting literacy events with book

distributions, and engage more community members

in this effort.

Please contact us if you would like to donate new books, create a book drive at your workplace or school, or participate in a literacy event giving books to young people.

To date REF has proudly donated nearly 30,000 new books to help build the home libraries of city students, and to city school libraries. The books have an estimated value of more than $200,000. In honor of our efforts, REF received the Friend of the Library Award in June 2008 from the Rochester School Library Association.

Our Teachers' Choice application process offers new books to Rochester City School District educators serving city students. A total of 4,544 new books were distributed in December, January and February of the 2010-2011 school year.

About 5,000 new books will be distributed during the 2011-2012 school year. A total of 41 educators are receiving books during the 2011-2012 school year:

Teachers' Choice Recipients Fall 2011

Teachers' Choice Applicants can apply for up to 200 new books apiece to be used in projects supporting literacy such as student book clubs, parent-child reading events and other activities or events. All books donated for teacher projects are required to be given to students for their home libraries by the end of the school year.

Students and teachers have responded enthusiastically. As a teacher directing a high school student book club at lunchtime noted: "They were very excited to see what books were available, especially those in a series. They built relationships with others and were anxious to find out what book was next. They used each other as resources and engaged in conversation about the books. Students involved in the club were also the best-behaved students in class."

The program was professionally evaluated in 2011. It was found to be a program that "exemplifies some of the best practices of reading instruction."

Give Back, Give Books has also:

• Donated books about civil rights and justice to five school libraries.
• Donated a new birthday book to each student at School 16.

Teachers' Choice is supported by REF's donors and by grants from the Rothenberg Foundation, Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation, the M&T Bank Foundation, Ames-Amzalak Foundation, Paychex and in-kind support from donors including Advantage Federal Credit Union, Allendale Columbia School, First Book, Iroquois Service Club, Kodak Business Research Division, Syracuse University Alumni Group, Random House, Thomson-Reuters.

Did you know that...

• Many city school students do not have books at home.
• The average fiction book in city school libraries is about 20 years old.
• Providing books to children and school libraries is a proven way to help students become more successful academically and in the future.

Help us make a difference.