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UGA First Book Provides The Magic Of Reading For A-CC Children

by Shundra Jackson
04/18/2007

Green Eggs and Ham, Charlotte's Web, Arthur and The Chronicles of Narnia, are some of the top favorite children's books, yet some children will never get the chance to read nor own any of these stories.

One campus volunteer organization wants to change that. First Book at UGA, one of the many chapters of the national First Book organization, provides children from low-income families their very own first books.

The organization was founded in the spring of 2006 in hopes of making a difference in the lives of Athens-Clarke County children. There are many children who do not have access to their own books, which is one of the reasons why Megan Poitevint, a junior from Dahlonega, GA, became involved with First Book at the University of Georgia.

"I never really thought about kids not having books of their own at home to read, but that's such an important part of the learning process and I'm glad we get to do this service," Poitevint said.

The group's main goals in the beginning were to first form a strong foundation in order to continuously supply books to children and to increase literacy awareness. In its first year, the organization provided books to many children across the county through fundraising and book donations.

The organization read to children at Oasis Catolico, which is a tutoring program in Athens, gave a book party for the YMCA and held a book fair at the Athens Boys and Girls Club, where all of the children were able to take home free books.

At the fair, all of the First Book at UGA members wore costumes of well known book characters. Donna Brown, the program director at the Boys and Girls Club, said, "The costumes brought the books to life for the children."

The organization is now officially registered on campus and plans on focusing on getting books out to the children who need them.

Students who are interested in joining this organization can go to their website and fill out the online form in order to be added to the listserv.

Prathima Kathiresan, a senior from Marietta, is one of the organization's volunteers.

"First Book gives you a hands own opportunity to work with the Athens community. You get to hand a child their first book," Kathiresan said.

Students who may not have time to join can still help by making donations to either First Book at UGA or the national organization. A $2.50 donation provides a child with a new book.

Students can also help by buying products that support First Book or by simply visiting The Literacy Site and click on 'fund books for kids,' which is a free way of getting First Book sponsors to donate books.

"Ideally, we'd like to make sure every kid in Athens who doesn't have any books of their own can get one from First Book; we want to reach out to every group that serves underprivileged kids," Megan Poitevint said.