Local book drive donating to children in need

Local book drive donating to children in need

By Rhiannon Lotze Converged Citizen Staff

A local charity is providing books to children in need to highlight the importance of reading during childhood.

The Link to Literacy Children’s Book Drive was started in 2008 by Tamye Machina. The goal of the charity is to provide children with reading material if they cannot get it otherwise.

Since its creation, Link to Literacy has collected and distributed more than 30,000 books written for children aged 4-13. This year alone over 8,000 gently-used books have been donated and will be distributed to places like elementary schools in November.

The charity was created by Machina as a way to recycle her children’s books and to promote the importance of reading to children who don’t have easy access to reading material.

“I firmly believe the ability to read is an essential life skill and that owning a book makes a huge difference to a child to motivate them to … achieve success in school and also in life,” said Machina. She runs the organization largely by herself but has received help from local groups such as the LaSalle

Vipers junior hockey team and the Essex County Library.

“Many of these children live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, are new immigrants to Canada, have challenging family situations or do not live near a public library,” she said.

Some of the places Link to Literacy has donated to in the past include Roseville Public School and the

LaSalle Rotary Club.

According to the principal of Roseville, Eileen Topliffe, the charity has already benefited over 1000 students in more ways than one.

“Every student in the school received a take home book. Some received more because of need,” Topliffe said. “From my school, the home library is sparse and they borrow quite a few books from the library. To have ownership of a precious book is fantastic.”

Having children read is also important because reading promotes academic excellence, enhances speech skills, helps children think more logically and can help with concentration and discipline, according to an article on earlymoments.com.

While it is important for children to read, it is often difficult to inspire them to do so.

As an elementary school teacher and mother of two, Michelle Murphy-St. Amand has been working on ways to interest her students and children in reading.

“Let them choose the books they get to read,” she said. “Don’t tell the entire class they are all reading the same book. Take them to the bookstore and look at the book covers. Have them talk to their friends about the books they are reading. Having a book recommended to you by a peer is a powerful thing. Read to them. Read with them. Buy them books, even at Value Village or yard sales. Read non-fiction books about topics they are interested in. Find a series they like so they can read the entire series and get attached to the characters.”

Link to Literacy is one of several charities that provides books to people in need and promotes the importance of reading. For people wanting to donate to the organization, Tamye Machina can be contacted through the Link to Literacy Facebook or Twitter pages or by phone at 519-978-1517.