Portland Library Handing Out 150 Free Books To Children

Written by Farrah Duffany

PORTLAND, CT —As people involved with the Portland Library, Marilyn White and Jennifer Renk know how much books can impact people’s lives and imagination. That’s why they decided to connect the children and teens of Chatham Court project in Portland with more resources for reading.

Seventy-five children and teenagers will be given two, brand new books for free this summer with help from the Portland Library, thanks to the commitment of Renk and White.

“It’s so important for children to have books in their home,” said White, a Board Member of the Friends of the Portland Library. “This is going to be a great opportunity.”

After a different summer program for the Chatham Court area was canceled because of a lack of funding, Renk, the Supervisor of Youth Services for the Portland Library, knew she wanted to do something to take its place. The program came through last minute after Eversource reached out to make a donation.

“The staff at the Portland Library really has a passion to help those around them and it’s admirable,” said Eversource Community Relations Specialist Patricia Bandzes. “I’m proud that Eversource could be part of this initiative to help purchase books. Handing out books to the community is really empowering our youth to read.”

With the grant, the Portland Library Staff can purchase 150 books, enough for each person to take home two. There will be a variety of books available for age groups from birth to 18. Some of the books include: “Cardboard Kingdom,” “The Bad Guys,” “Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “Eva’s Treetop Festival,” and “First Rule of Punk,” to name a few.

Lauren Incognito of the Portland Housing Authority had a huge hand in connecting the library to families in that community. With her help, the library staff is still planning the final details of the program but they hope to hand out books at Chatham Court on Aug. 13, to make it easier for children and teenagers to receive them.

“This grant funding that Eversource gave us is great and will really help open some new doors and new opportunities in the community,” Renk said. “It’s so important to us to be able to help a demographic that we might not be reaching. If there’s anything that we can do to get a group reading, then why not do it?”

Contributed photo by Eversource