Christmas came early in the seventh grade English classroom library in the Bronx of a Fredonia English Adolescence Education graduate, thanks to campus support of a book drive undertaken by Sigma Tau Delta.
More than 100 books donated during the English honor society’s first-ever book appeal arrived in Rachel Beneway’s classroom at P.S. M.S 279 Captain Manuel Rivera Jr. four days before Christmas. “Huge shout out to the Fredonia English Department, especially the wonderful members of Sigma Tau Delta, for collecting these amazing books for my students,” Ms. Beneway, ’16, wrote in a Facebook post, reported Katerina Koutsandreas, an English Adolescence Education senior from Hamburg who helped organize the book campaign.
“I’m a huge believer that a story is the best gift you can possibly give or receive and I think my students are starting to feel the same. Thank you to everyone who had a part of this; you truly do not realize the impact that you have made,” Beneway added.
Ms. Koutsandreas said Sigma Tau Delta members were delighted that the books – approximately 110 – arrived at the school before the Christmas holiday, so students would have plenty of books to take home and read over the break. The books – collected in a bin placed in the University Commons lobby during December – spanned a wide variety of genres, with a mix of fiction, non-fiction, science fiction/fantasy, romance, young adult, classics, plays and even a few graphic novels.
“Rachel was surprised by the number of books donated, and she gave way more ‘thank yous’ than ever necessary,” Koutsandreas added.
Buoyed by the success, Koutsandreas says there’s a “strong possibility” that Sigma Tau Delta could make a book drive an annual event. “I'm sure that there are many alums of Fredonia's English Education program and English teachers in the local community who are in need of good books for their students, so there are many avenues that we could take with potential future book drives.”
The kindness and thoughtfulness of the donors is greatly appreciated, Koutsandreas said. “I wholeheartedly agree with Rachel’s statement that stories are absolutely the best gifts anyone could ever give.”
