Campbell Elementary gets books from Junior League

Campbell Elementary gets books from Junior League

CAMPBELL

Campbell Elementary School received a gift of several hundred books Tuesday from the Junior League of Youngstown.

The books were bundled into small stacks and will be handed out to second-grade students next week. The donation is to encourage independent reading over the summer vacation, and to help students start building their own personal libraries.

Mary Jo Ugolini, a second-grade teacher at the school, said it is important for students to read at home. The donation helps students who do not have access to age-appropriate reading materials.

“You’d be surprised how many of them don’t have books at home” said Ugolini.

Laura Rumble and Debbie Hartig, members of The Junior League of Youngstown, presented the books to the principal, Robert Walls, and several teachers at the school.

The Junior League is a local charitable non-profit organization that is dedicated to community volunteering projects. Rumble and Hartig are involved with the Done in a Day events through the organization.

“We encouraged our members to go through their bookshelves” said Rumble, herself a former teacher. “We collected all the books at our May evening dinner and a bunch of us got together and bundled them together.”

Walls had asked the Junior League members to present the books as individual gifts. Each bundle was gender specific and geared to a second-grade reading level. The books were tied in a bow and each bundle featured a Dr. Seuss quote and the school’s motto: “You’re not born a winner or a loser, you’re born a chooser!”