Book Fair news from the Healey! They decided to do something a little off the beaten path this year for their annual book fair. This year, they  will accept gently used books from bookshelves all over Somerville to sell for the book fair.

Why? Their mission is to make sure every child in the school has access to age-appropriate books and can go home with a book, expanding their home library. This also helps parents clean out books their kids may have outgrown, which makes room for new books while lessening our carbon footprint. They also thought this was a great way to invite the larger Somerville Community to participate in the process. All the money raised will go back to Healey Families to help fund offsite learning opportunities and activities throughout the year.

Goal? Their  goal is to collect a diverse selection of new or gently used books from the community (and publishers if anyone has connections) and sell the books for $1 – $5 a book. The goal is to make sure every child goes home with at least one book, regardless of their ability to pay. The hope is to collect 1,000 age-appropriate books for the Healey School’s 438 students by February 14.

What they need: New or gently used children’s books from all over Somerville; books for children in Pre-K through eighth grade; bilingual or dual language books; diverse characters in books, volunteers to help sort books and prepare the space for the book fair in late February.

What happens to the leftover books after the book sale? They have plans to keep books accessible for the kids all year round while also making sure books in good condition are not thrown away. They plan on constructing a little library (take a book/leave a book) for the first floor where we have books available to take for visitors and students year-round.

Your old books can have a positive impact on kids and our community, so please consider donating your books at the Healey School’s front desk, or see if your school has a donation box for Healey volunteers to pick up on February 14. (Only new or gently used Pre-K-8 children’s books can be accepted.)

Questions? Please email Melissa McCue-McGrath (m.mccue@gmail.com), and thank you for your donation.

— Somerville Public Schools