PRESS RELEASE DETAIL

Office of the Mayor-President


For release: IMMEDIATELY

Release Date: 01/18/2017

Barnes and Noble Citiplace donates more than 1,600 books to My Brother’s Keeper

Office of Mayor-President
City Of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge

SHARON WESTON BROOME
Mayor-President


Jan 18, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Erin Porche’, Youth Project Manager, (225) 389-4222
Dr. Tamiara Wade, Asst. Chief Administrative Officer: (225) 389-3100
Michelle McCalope, Communications Office: (225) 389-7957

BATON ROUGE -- Barnes and Noble Citiplace has donated 1,636 books to My Brother’s Keeper- Baton Rouge (MBK-BR) program through its Holiday Book Drive.

The book drive was held from Nov. 1 to Jan.1 at Barnes and Noble, 2590 Citiplace Court, in Baton Rouge. Customers were asked to give the gift of reading by purchasing a book at the store to donate to MBK-BR.

“Thanks to Barnes and Noble Citiplace and their customers for this wonderful gift that really keeps on giving,” Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said. “These books will help hundreds of kids in our community improve their reading skills and inspire their love for reading.”

The books will be distributed to Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS), the Line 4 Line-Books in Barbershops program and at various MBK-BR events to help promote and support literacy throughout the community.

According to the Campaign for Grade-Level reading, about 80 of low-income children do not read proficiently by the end of third grade and struggling readers living in poverty are six times more likely to not complete high school.

MBK-BR Reads is a key initiative to help close the gap. MBK-Reads has partnered with VIPS and East Baton Rouge Parish schools to provide individualized reading assistance for Pre-K through second grade students who read below grade level during school, in barbershops, after-school programs, and at home with parents or family members. But there are still hundreds of children without a reading friend.

MBK-BR needs everyone to become a partner and volunteer to help children read on grade level. If you’d like to volunteer for MBK-BR Reads, visit www.mbkbr.com to sign up or contact Erin Porche’, Youth Project Manager, via email at mbkbr@brgov.com or (225) 389-4222.
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