Book Drive

Susan Harkins and her son, Quinn Hargitai, were on their way to an Orioles game May 5 - with three bags full of children's books in their back seat. Their last stop before going to the game: the parking lot at Polytechnic Institute-Western High School on Cold Spring Lane, where they joined hundreds of people dropping off books at the annual Baltimore Reads "Books For Kids Day" children's book drive. "We had lots of books between kindergarten and third grade," said Hargitai, 11. His mother said that although they have donated used children's books to the Salvation Army, the annual collection drive "is a much more direct way to get the books to kids."

Baltimore Reads hopes to collect 75,000 titles at its 17th annual Books for Kids Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the parking lot of Poly-Western High School, Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane. The nonprofit organization, dedicated to fostering literacy, will accept new or gently used books and redistribute them through its Book Bank. It collects books for Baltimore-area schools, teachers, Head Start centers, social services agencies, community organizations and needy families.

Mayor Martin O'Malley joined with public schools chief Bonnie S. Copeland yesterday to launch a campaign to collect books that will be donated to the Baltimore school system's struggling libraries. "We have some great-looking libraries" in Baltimore's public schools, O'Malley said. "But you'll see a lot of bare shelves. This is a way we can fill these shelves." The mayor's Believe in Our Schools book drive is being conducted in partnership with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, the school system, Enoch Pratt Free Library and Baltimore Reads, a nonprofit group that promotes literacy.

At 75, Bob Geer is long retired from a marketing career, but he remains involved in a bookish venture. While the former Cockeysville resident spends much of his time in Osprey, Fla., he makes sure he returns to Baltimore for the annual Books for Kids Day, an event he helped launch in 1996. On Saturday, Geer will mark the 15th year of the book drive in a tent on the parking lot of Polytechnic Institute-Western High School, where he and dozens of volunteers will collect new and gently used books from donors who drive by or walk in. The volunteers will then sort the books by category — quite a task, given that 100,000 books were donated during the 2009 event.

The annual Baltimore Reads Books For Kids Day book collection project pulled in more than 25,000 children's books for the Baltimore-based literacy organization that operates a year-round book bank for low-income families. The book drive drew support from more than 100 groups and individuals, culminating in a drop-off May 13 at Polytechnic Institute and Western High School in Baltimore. A top contributor was Bayside Elementary School in the Queen Anne's County community of Stevensville, where two pupils - Stephanie Nhem and Caitlin Driscoll - led an effort that collected 2,300 books.

More than 100 colorful posters decorated the walls of a small room on the third floor of a Read Street building in Baltimore. Young people ages 7 to 9 dashed around, inspecting each poster, trying to choose one to publicize the annual "Books for Kids Day" collection drive sponsored by the Baltimore Reads literacy organization. The children judging the posters on a recent Saturday afternoon were members of the organization's first "Kid's Committee," designed to involve children in planning the book drive, which will be held May 5 at Polytechnic Insti- tute/Western High School in Baltimore.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun about Glenwood Middle School's book drive misspelled the name of seventh-grader Kim Sandifer, 12.The Sun regrets the error.While the band tuned up in the background, four Harlem Park Elementary students fidgeted in their auditorium's wooden seats, punching each other's shoulders, arguing about whose legs were fastest."I'm the quickest," said fifth-grader Jamel Deans, 10, his dimpled face bursting into a grin. "I'll get there first."Fourth-grader Charles Wilson mocked his classmate's boasting, for his homeroom is just across the hall from the finish line -- the school's sparse library.

Amerix vice president organizes book drive at Columbia company Michael Croxson, executive vice president of Amerix Corp. of Columbia, organized a company book drive to benefit Baltimore Reads. The drive generated $351. More than 600 unsold books were sent to the literacy group. Croxson is a member of the board of Baltimore Reads. Synergy remains top Heart Walk fund-raiser Charmaine Gordon, owner of Synergy - The Future of Fitness for Women, has announced that the Columbia health club has won top honors for its participation in the Howard County American Heart Association Annual Heart Walk.

WASHINGTON -- Czech readers will soon pore over previously banned texts, ranging from treatises on democracy to "Huckleberry Finn."More than 25,000 books arrived in Prague from the United States last month, the first shipment of a million-count book drive whose contributors include U.S. libraries, universities and individuals.This is the first operating project for Czechoslovakia made possible by the Prague Spring Foundation, an organization started by a California real estate developer, an airline flight attendant and a marketing agent for a natural-foods company.

Kathy Tomaszewski doesn't have room to walk in her basement, but where else could she store 7,000 books? She's been collecting boxes filled with picture books, early readers and novels since last month, and her basement is filled to capacity. A PTA member at Ilchester Elementary School in Ellicott City, Tomaszewski is the chairwoman for the school's annual "Give the Gift of Reading" book drive. "I lose so much time down in the basement sorting these books because I find all sorts of things that [are]

David Hernandez has established himself as a strikeout pitcher in only three professional seasons in the Orioles' organization. Now it's time for Hernandez to establish himself as a winner. Hernandez is 5-9 with a 5.20 ERA in 22 games at Single-A Frederick, all but one of them starts. He has one victory since June 7. His season appears to be a dud until you consider that he leads the Carolina League with 123 strikeouts in 110 2/3 innings. He's walked 37. "He's got very good stuff, a very good fastball and slider, and that's how he gets his strikeouts," said David Stockstill, director of minor league operations.

Mayor Martin O'Malley joined with public schools chief Bonnie S. Copeland yesterday to launch a campaign to collect books that will be donated to the Baltimore school system's struggling libraries. "We have some great-looking libraries" in Baltimore's public schools, O'Malley said. "But you'll see a lot of bare shelves. This is a way we can fill these shelves." The mayor's Believe in Our Schools book drive is being conducted in partnership with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, the school system, Enoch Pratt Free Library and Baltimore Reads, a nonprofit group that promotes literacy.

Visitors who walk through the green double doors of Ilchester Elementary into the Ellicott City school's main hall these days, see a cardboard box with a lime green sign and the words "A Gift of Reading." The box represents a remarkable exercise of giving that has involved thousands of students in schools across Howard County over the past few years. It started six years ago at Ilchester, where the PTA was looking for a way to gather books to be distributed to less fortunate pupils. Notices were sent home to parents, urging them to help their children identify good books to pass along to others.

NORTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOL pupils have collected more than 3,500 books so far in a monthlong book drive to help an elementary school in West Baltimore. The book drive is part of the eighth-grade class' service learning project, according to Gayle Sands, their reading teacher. Sands said her pupils organized a clothing drive last year for foster children in Baltimore. That fueled their interest to help others less fortunate. "My students were bugging me about doing something again this year," Sands said.

Kathy Tomaszewski doesn't have room to walk in her basement, but where else could she store 7,000 books? She's been collecting boxes filled with picture books, early readers and novels since last month, and her basement is filled to capacity. A PTA member at Ilchester Elementary School in Ellicott City, Tomaszewski is the chairwoman for the school's annual "Give the Gift of Reading" book drive. "I lose so much time down in the basement sorting these books because I find all sorts of things that [are]

Six pupils to serve on poster committee for annual book drive BALTIMORE - The Baltimore Reads literacy organization has chosen six area pupils to serve on its Books for Kids Day 2002 Committee, which will help draw attention to the group's annual spring book drive. The six will conduct and judge a poster contest to promote reading and the donation of books. Last year, the drive brought in more than 50,000 books for distribution to low-income families throughout the area. The six pupils on this year's committee are Mitchell Cohen, a sixth-grader at Franklin Middle School, Baltimore; Manuel Eliopulos, a fifth-grader at John Ruhrah Elementary School, Baltimore; Carson Satterfield, a fourth-grader at Sparks Elementary School, Baltimore County; Sophie Hess, a third-grader at Jacksonville Elementary School, Baltimore County; Sead Richardson, a fourth-grader at Calvin Rodwell Elementary School, Baltimore; and Rachel Richardson, a fourth-grader at Waverly Elementary School, Baltimore.

Volunteers to distribute 25,000 books to schoolsAn army of volunteers will fan out across Baltimore Saturday during Hands On Baltimore's Serv-A-Thon '99, a community service day during which the focus will be on placing 25,000 new, donated books on the shelves of 25 city schools.The volunteers also will be building bookshelves, painting classrooms, landscaping and turning vacant lots into parks. For information on joining the effort, call Hands On Baltimore at 410-547-8810, or register at 9 a.m. Saturday at The Brokerage, 34 Market Place.

Six pupils to serve on poster committee for annual book drive BALTIMORE - The Baltimore Reads literacy organization has chosen six area pupils to serve on its Books for Kids Day 2002 Committee, which will help draw attention to the group's annual spring book drive. The six will conduct and judge a poster contest to promote reading and the donation of books. Last year, the drive brought in more than 50,000 books for distribution to low-income families throughout the area. The six pupils on this year's committee are Mitchell Cohen, a sixth-grader at Franklin Middle School, Baltimore; Manuel Eliopulos, a fifth-grader at John Ruhrah Elementary School, Baltimore; Carson Satterfield, a fourth-grader at Sparks Elementary School, Baltimore County; Sophie Hess, a third-grader at Jacksonville Elementary School, Baltimore County; Sead Richardson, a fourth-grader at Calvin Rodwell Elementary School, Baltimore; and Rachel Richardson, a fourth-grader at Waverly Elementary School, Baltimore.

Amerix vice president organizes book drive at Columbia company Michael Croxson, executive vice president of Amerix Corp. of Columbia, organized a company book drive to benefit Baltimore Reads. The drive generated $351. More than 600 unsold books were sent to the literacy group. Croxson is a member of the board of Baltimore Reads. Synergy remains top Heart Walk fund-raiser Charmaine Gordon, owner of Synergy - The Future of Fitness for Women, has announced that the Columbia health club has won top honors for its participation in the Howard County American Heart Association Annual Heart Walk.

Susan Harkins and her son, Quinn Hargitai, were on their way to an Orioles game May 5 - with three bags full of children's books in their back seat. Their last stop before going to the game: the parking lot at Polytechnic Institute-Western High School on Cold Spring Lane, where they joined hundreds of people dropping off books at the annual Baltimore Reads "Books For Kids Day" children's book drive. "We had lots of books between kindergarten and third grade," said Hargitai, 11. His mother said that although they have donated used children's books to the Salvation Army, the annual collection drive "is a much more direct way to get the books to kids."