'Massive reading' follows book giveaway at school

Students at Homosassa Elementary School get their choice of books at a giveaway that's part of the Reading is Fundamental program.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 1, 2000

HOMOSASSA -- A fifth-grade class filed into the media center at Homosassa Elementary School, the place where the students usually borrow books. The visit last week was different. There were at least four tables covered with new books, and the students were each allowed to choose one and keep it.

The program is called Reading is Fundamental, a federally funded book distribution. The Homosassa Springs Kiwanis Club enabled the program to be schoolwide by donating $550, which was a quarter of the program's funding.

Adults who selected and ordered the books had to make difficult choices. "We had a committee of two parents and the librarian to make the selection of the books," said committee parent Jeremy Neff, the mother of a fourth-grader. "And we tried to select award-winning books. We wanted them to be quality books. We're pretty happy with the way it went."

The project just came into full swing toward the end of this school year, thanks to the efforts of assistant principal Kevin Banks, who was instrumental in bringing the program into the school. He also started the RIF program at Hernando Elementary School, where he was an administrator.

There have been two book giveaways this year. Next year there will be three.

The school media specialist, Debby Kenney, said the hope behind the program is that having books at home will help with reading. They want to "get the books to the kids."

Connie Castle, 12, a fifth-grader, chose a story about a man who inherits an elephant. She likes the RIF program, she says, "because I don't have to pay for it."

Fourth-grader Micheal Floyd, 10, agrees that the price is right. "I think it's pretty cool, because people are being nice and kids get books without paying for them." Micheal says he is interested in books about horses and that books are "pretty cool."

Tiffany Huggins, 11, a fourth-grader who likes "all kinds of books," said, "I think it's nice for the people to do it for us and to let us take the books and keep them and read them."

Megan Oaks, 12, a fifth-grader, who is interested in non-fiction about animals, also appreciates the giveaway. "I think it's very nice," she said. "It helps them (kids) read.

Michael Coury, 12, a fifth-grader, likes scary mystery books, especially Goosebumps stories by R.L. Stine. He has about 15 or 16 of the series, he said. "Now I got this one," he said, holding the book he picked up at the giveaway.

Carol Santti, the media center aide, loves the reaction from students when they are given their new books. "Several teachers and aides commented to us that the kids are reading," she said. "They're taking books out to recess. They're reading them at lunch time. You can really tell the day we give away. It's just massive reading."

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