Every December, I visit Park Road Books to buy books for children whom I have never met and will likely never meet. This annual ritual is tied the Book Tree Initiative, a collaborative project involving Communities In Schools (CIS) and Park Road Books. The CIS website includes the following description of the project:
Communities In Schools and Park Road Books in Park Road Shopping Center team up each year to give the joy of reading and books to CIS students. A tree in Park Road Books’ store is decorated with ornaments created by our students, including the name, age, and “book wish” of a student. Customers who select an ornament are given a 20% discount on a book purchased for the student. It’s a wonderful way to give a new book to a child who may never have had a book of his or her own.
This past week my wife and I selected two ornaments from the Book Tree. My wife picked an ornament created by a girl who expressed a desire for a book from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Jeff Kinney launched this series in 2007, and there are now twenty books in the series. My wife selected one of the more recent books in the series. I picked an ornament created by a boy who said he would like a “baseball book.” I took a look at the store’s collection of books for middle-school readers, and I spotted Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series by John Feinstein. We paid for these books and left them with the helpful cashier. The staff at Park Road Books will make sure that the books get into the hands of the children who requested them.
For readers who want to know more about Communities In Schools, please click on the following link: https://www.cischarlotte.org
We are big believers in providing children with their own books, which is why we always take a trip to the Book Tree. We like the fact that the children who participate in this program are given an opportunity to say what book or type of book they want, and we enjoy making their “book wishes” come true.
I wish everyone in Storied Charlotte a wonderful holiday season, and I hope that everyone’s “book wishes” all come true.