BPL Employees Reading to 380 Students in 18 Classrooms at Phillips Academy Thursday

 

Phillips Academy students holding BPL Birmingham Reads sign at the Central Library. 

Birmingham, Ala. - On Thursday, May 4, 18 Birmingham Public Library employees will be reading to 380 students in 18 K5 through 5th grade classrooms at Phillips Academy in downtown Birmingham.

Better Basics' Birmingham Reads will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at Phillips Academy, 2316 7th Ave. North. 

BPL will be among 535 guest readers sharing books before nearly 11,000 K5 – 5th grade students in Birmingham City Schools as part of the annual Birmingham Reads coordinated by Better Basics, a Birmingham-based nonprofit dedicated to eradicating illiteracy across Central Alabama. 

Between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 4, 535 volunteer guest readers will be in every Birmingham City Schools’ pre-kindergarten through 5th-grade classroom at the same time to read to nearly 11,000 students.

Pat Byington of BhamNow described how things will work during Birmingham Reads as below:

As part of Thursday’s event, Better Basics will mobilize hundreds of volunteers who are committed to read a pre-selected, age-appropriate book to a class.

They then hand each child a copy of the book for their home libraries. They will deliver books to 11,000 students. 

In total, volunteers will be reading at 27 Birmingham City Schools in 535 elementary classrooms.

Besides BPL, other participants will include:

 • Alabama’s Poet Laureate Ashley M Jones

 • Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond 

• Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr 

• Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway 

• Vulcan and Vesta mascots 

• Several businesses – including KPMG, Brasfield & Gorrie, Regions, O’Neal Industries, and Alabama Power 

• Civic and social organizations 

To volunteer, contact Betty Wells, Better Basics Volunteer Coordinator, at bwells@betterbasics.org.

 📚 #reading