Blog Posts

What I Learned at My First Book Celebration

By Ellen Howes

Three years ago on August 1, I started my first day with Reading Is Fundamental. Like many new employees, my first few days – weeks, honestly – were spent learning names, learning acronyms, learning the basics of our programs, and trying to absorb it all.  

Then, on August 30, I was on my first RIF trip.  

I flew out to Detroit, MI for the ribbon-cutting and Book Celebration of a new Reading Corner made possible by the generosity of Macy’s. The RIF team and a dozen Macy’s volunteers had transformed the library of a Detroit elementary school into a reading haven, complete with new shelves, new seating, a reading-themed mural commissioned with a local muralist, and of course, brand new library books.  

To unveil the new Reading Corner, RIF and Macy’s included a Book Celebration so students could not only enjoy their refreshed library space, but also select a book to take home and call their own, bringing the joy of reading home. 

Admittedly, I arrived after much of the heavy lifting. Macy’s volunteers had assembled shelves, sorted books, and created a welcoming and exciting experience for the students. Their dedication allowed me to step back and simply observe the Book Celebration about to unfold.  

What is a Book Celebration? 

What I now know is that a Book Celebration is the embodiment of reading joy.  

Book Celebrations are a version of our Books for Ownership program in the classic “book fair” format, allowing children to choose brand-new books to take home and own for free, powered by the philanthropy of our partners and supporters. Often these events include read-alouds from authors or special guests and other activities to get children excited about reading.  

Classroom by classroom, grade by grade, students shuffle in (or sometimes skip in, or dance in – I’ve now seen it all these past three years!). Each Book Celebration has its own twist, its own unique mark to reflect that school. But the heart of each one remains the same: pure joy.  

Knowing the Mission 

Between my first day at RIF and the Book Celebration in Detroit, I thought I’d done a good job of understanding RIF intellectually.  

I couldn’t yet explain all the nuances of our programs, or rattle off the facts and figures I know today. I didn’t yet know that in some neighborhoods across our country, there is only 1 book for every 833 children1. I didn’t yet know that a library copy of a book costs more than a commercial copy because of reinforced bindings and licensing. I didn’t yet know that for every single book a child may pick up at a RIF program, our team has created a suite of free, curriculum-aligned guides and activities to pair with that book.  

But I knew the basics: that RIF believes in book access, book joy, our children, and the people and communities who help our children thrive. Within my first month at RIF, I could explain the importance of children’s literacy. I could talk about the importance of a child owning a book.  

RIF’s mission made sense to me on paper, but I hadn’t yet experienced it firsthand. I was still only talking to people about what felt like a concept.  

Seeing the Mission 

I remember seeing the kindergarteners’ heads peering around the corner of the propped library doors as they lined up in the hallway. It was the morning of the Book Celebration. The magic was about to begin. 

These three years later, many of the details of that day are a blur, but what has stayed with me are the children.  

When told that every student would get to choose a new book to take home, one little girl looked up at a Macy’s volunteer with wide eyes and asked, almost in disbelief, “We get books?” 

After selecting her new book, another girl immediately made her way to the Reading Corner, hunkering down and starting her book. No prompting from a teacher or volunteer – nothing was going to keep her from that story.  

One second-grader stood in the middle of the room, raised his hands in the air, and simply said, “Thank you, everybody!” 

Another student summed up everything we hoped the refreshed space would become when she smiled and said, “I want to come here every day.” 

Those are just the clearest moments that have stayed with me. There were so many quieter but equally as powerful moments, too. An older boy, who’d been dedicated as one of the school’s reading ambassadors, helping younger students find a book they’d like. Teachers roaming around the new library, taking photos of the mural and the shelves.  

One teacher told us that reading doesn’t just “open the world” for children. It “opens the universe.”  

As the newest member of RIF’s team, I mostly stood back and watched, soaking it all in.  

In my role on RIF’s Development Team, I spend most of my time talking to adults – colleagues, donors, and partners. We talk about goals, proposals, and what we can accomplish together. Those conversations are incredibly important because they make moments like this possible. 

Watching my first Book Celebration, I realized that every gift, every grant, every partnership ultimately leads here: to a child discovering a story they’re excited to read, a teacher watching confidence grow, or a little girl looking around her school’s library and saying, “I want to come here every day.”  

That’s a life changed. And that’s when RIF’s mission clicked for me.  

Three Years Later 

Three years after my first RIF event, I still spend most of my time talking to adults. I take enormous pride in my work, speaking with the individuals, families, and partners who want to make a difference.  

Those conversations matter because they make our work possible.   

Every time I attend a Book Celebration and join our team at an event, I’m reminded that behind every gift is something wonderfully simple and profound: a child discovering the joy of reading. I’m grateful my first month at RIF included the chance to see that firsthand.  

Source:  

1 Neuman, S. B., & Moland, N. (2019). Book deserts: the consequences of income segregation on children’s access to books. Urban Education, 54(1), 126–147