Otselic Valley Central School District

Soon, every Otselic Valley student in Pre-K through 8th grade will receive at least one brand new book of their own to help build their home library. Can they take home more than one book? We hope so!“Book Blast,” a fundraiser campaign by Books Are Fun/Collective Goods, partners with schools, principals, librarians, and their communities to get personal books into the hands of students. Donors can contribute to this fundraiser and very quickly make a helpful impact on students’ growing literacy.When the campaign begins on Tuesday, May 10, Vikings will be invited to submit contact information for up to 10 family and friends. Students can earn prizes for completing the “Treasure Map” including small gifts, a Treasure Chest with cash, and an iPad. We’ll share videos and reminders to keep you posted.Next, the Book Blast people will text or email potential donors with information about how they can donate to their student’s home library. That data is kept strictly confidential and will be used only during the campaign.Community members can also make general donations to help provide more books for students who may not have as many contacts. Those instructions will be provided during Book Blast week which begins May 10.Please note that the donation period is time-limited, and OV’s private website for online donations will close only 2 weeks after launch.Otselic Valley students always benefit from having books of their own at home, but there are especially good reasons for gifting books to Vikings now: summer is coming, and reading is a great way to prevent literacy losses after many long summer days. And then there was the power outage. While we hope we don’t see another outage like the one just passed, that challenge showed the value of having printed books in families’ homes: the loss of electricity and internet was a very good time to read.Thank you for considering this great way to grow students’ home libraries with the help of their families and friends!Click here to learn more about Books Are Fun.