The success of Book Worm Angels is the result of the hundreds of schools and organizations that hold book drives for us. See if your school or organization has participated by clicking here.
We are honored to have donated over two million books to the following schools:
Book Worm Angels Recipient Schools
Congratulations to Peyton Newman, 2012 National American Miss who is dedicated to improving literacy and helping Book Worm Angels.
Congratulations to our 2011 Survey Raffle Winners
Doris Lopez from Avondale School and April Elem-Gwin from Lawrence School are the two lucky randomly selected winners of a Barnes and Noble gift certificate.
Many of my students don’t go to the library even though they have library cards. Parents often don’t have the time to take them to the library. I sometimes think that the library intimidates a lot of parents because they don’t know how to use it.
Giving my students the books from the Book Worm Angels exposes them to different kinds of books just for leisure reading. My students enjoy being able to pick books that are of interest to them and taking them home to read. I really appreciate your donation as so do my co-workers.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Doris Lopez
Fourth Grade Teacher, Avondale School
Greetings,
On behalf of Robert H. Lawrence’s students teachers, staff , and parents; we want to say THANK YOU and your organization for providing our community of learners endless hours of adventure, mystery, honor, and classic tales. Your acts of kindness will always be treasured and appreciated.
April Elem-Gwin
Book Worm Angels has been successful in the two key elements of the program — gathering the books from generous book donors and making them available for use in the schools.
Read the article by John Kass from the Chicago Tribune and our most recent issue of Book Bag News .
BOOK DRIVES
In PARK RIDGE, the annual Ton o’ Books book drive selected Book Worm Angels as their recipient. Thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, the drive generated FIVE TONS of books. A local car dealer generously provided a 5 ton truck, and the 20,000 books collected over a three day period were delivered directly to three Chicago elementary schools.
In WESTERN SPRINGS, a committed supporter of Book Worm Angels wanted to organize a successful drive. She went to the Parent Teacher Organization of the school her 8-year-old twins attended and presented the program. The PTO approved it. She decided to get the students involved, so she next presented it to the Student Council. The class Student Council representatives spread the word throughout the school. As an incentive, the students were promised that the class that brought in the most books would be treated to a “do-it-yourself” ice cream sundae party. They agreed on a two-week drive period, and started in. Once some of her friends whose kids went to a neighborhood parochial school found out about her activity, they concluded it was a wonderful idea and ran a drive of their own. These two schools brought in over 8,000 books!
When our “Crack Logistics Team,” all volunteers from the Wilmette Noon Rotary Club, arrived to pick up the books, we knew we could never load all those books into our two vans. Our supporter had realized this, offered her SUV, and her friends also showed up to help deliver books. We were a caravan of 6 vans and SUVs delivering books that day. Heartwarming was the response of the Cabrini kids coming out and lugging in all those boxes of books. It was a great day for all concerned. The school’s Reading Coordinator kept saying, “I can’t believe we got all these books!” She was awestruck.
In GLENVIEW a Boy Scout going for his Eagle badge helped us. To get Eagle rank, a Scout has to take on a meaningful civic project showing leadership and organizational abilities. The BOOK WORM ANGELS project was just the ticket. The Scout used our kit, contacted the various schools in town, and, with the help of other Scouts in his troop, collected and delivered over 5,500 books.
The Literacy Officer for the ROLLING MEADOWS Rotary Club ran a drive via the library and through City Hall, collecting about 2,000 books. The Principal of Carl Sandburg Junior High School, Rolling Meadows, also a member of the Rotary Club, heard about the drive. She knew her school’s 8th grade honors class was looking for a project, so she told the class’s teacher of our needs and gave her our book drive kit. The teacher explained the project to the kids…and they were off! They not only involved their own school, but they contacted the other schools in town, explained the program, and provided them with the signs and other materials they would need. When our “Crack Logistics Team” went to the junior high to pick up the books, we asked the usual “What door?” question. As we drove around back with our two vans, the kids were already streaming out. And they kept coming – each kid carrying a big box of books for us. Then, as we loaded up the vans, they went back for more. We ran out of space. The teacher volunteered to put the remaining boxes in her car and personally delivered them to us. Over 5,000 books!
With the help of a PTO volunteer and the school staff, members of Evanston High School’s Senior Honors Program had a drive in early 2004 that netted over 2,000 books. And it was during that drive that Book Worm Angels collected its 100,000th book!
A Book Worm Angels supporter from WILMETTE led a drive in her kids’ church school, which, coupled with the Park Ridge Library, netted over 4,000 books.
A member of EVANSTON Rotary ran a drive at a local parochial school, netting over 2,000 books.
SUCCESS IN THE SCHOOLS
We have achieved demonstrable success with minimal funding and a volunteer staff. Results from the most recent teacher survey included the following:
Number of respondents: 219
Students borrow books 2.6 times per week to take home.
Use the books provided as a take-home lending library: 83%
Teachers believe the Book Worm Angels program improves students’ reading ability “quite a bit.”
In addition, we know:
Principals who don’t have the program want it.
Principals who have the program want to continue.
Each year more teachers in participating schools sign on.
Each year, more parents get involved.
More children in the same family enjoy the books they get to borrow.