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First Book and Barclays Employees Make a Difference for North Star Academy Charter School Children with 2,000 Book Donation
North Star Academy to Receive Books for Every Student and for School Library
First Book and Barclays Employees Make a Difference for North Star Academy Charter School Children with 2,000 Book Donation
North Star Academy to Receive Books for Every Student and for School Library
Published 10-22-09
Submitted by First Book
First Book announces that North Star Academy Charter School students will receive 2,000 of 20,000 books donated through a nationwide partnership with Barclays, the major global financial services provider. In celebration of the donation, Barclays employees joined morning circle time with the entire student population of North Star Academy Charter School today and then hosted a reading party with all first-graders. The first-graders received four brand new books of their own, including a special first edition copy of The Berenstain Bears’ Dollars and Sense children’s book written to address financial literacy and learning for children. The special edition is co-branded by the First Book Marketplace and Barclays. In addition, the school library will receive 1,000 books and all other students in the school will subsequently receive four books to build their own home libraries.
"Partnering with Barclays means that First Book can reach many more children in need who are waiting to know the power and magic of great books," said First Book President and CEO, Kyle Zimmer. "Access to books helps create readers for life, and we are grateful for Barclays dedication to creating financial literacy with this special edition which makes lessons on spending and saving accessible to all children."
The statistics on access to books highlight the need to significantly increase the availability of books in low-income neighborhoods. According to Susan B. Neuman in the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, while there is an average of 13 books for every child in middle income neighborhoods, there is only one book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods. First Book’s system of large-scale book donations grants unprecedented access to programs serving children in low-income households, making book ownership a reality rather than a luxury.
Christian Sparling of North Star Academy Charter School said, "North Star Academy places tremendous emphasis on literacy, with 100% of kindergarten and first-grade students at or above grade level in both reading and language arts at the end of 2009. We are very excited to receive this generous book donation from First Book and Barclays, which will build on the work North Star is doing to close the achievement gap."
Keith Kochie from Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays, said, "We are delighted that through this partnership with First Book we can help to make a positive impact for so many students. We hope that this donation will help to inspire many more students to read and use the skills and knowledge they acquire in meeting the challenges of today’s global economy."
Barclays has a proud tradition of supporting and investing in the communities where they do business and adopts a three-fold philosophy, propelled by its employees: to bank on brighter futures, to look after local communities and to support charity at work. This donation of books takes place during Barclays 'Make a Difference Day,' a program which has been an integral part of the firm’s employee community programs since its inception in 2000.
About First Book
First Book provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy "“ access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 65 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities. First Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada. For more information about the nonprofit First Book please visit www.firstbook.org.
About North Star Academy
North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, co-founded by James Verrilli and Norman Atkins in 1997, has become a nationally recognized model for academic success, and has grown to include two middle schools, a high school, and an elementary school. The North Star schools are members of the Uncommon Schools network. Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit organization that starts and manages outstanding urban charter public schools that close the achievement gap and prepare low-income students to graduate from college.
Of North Star’s 760 students enrolled across four campuses, over 75% qualify for free and reduced price lunch and 99% are students of color. The North Star schools consistently outperform their neighboring district schools and rank among the top schools in Newark and New Jersey. North Star plans to build additional schools in Newark, ultimately serving 1,400 students in grades K through 12. For more information, please visit: www.northstaracademy.org.
About Barclays
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 140,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 49 million customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit www.barclays.com.
