CU and Scholastic distribute children's books, free

From left, Sarah Thomas, Cornell's Carl A. Kroch University Librarian; Kevin McEnery '70, vice president and CFO of Scholastic Inc.; and Marisue Taube, CU Library director of external relations, display children's books given to the Family Reading Partnership and its executive director, Brigid Hubberman, right, May 3, at the Cornell warehouse on Lower Creek Road. Charles Harrington/University Photography

Cornell University Library has distributed approximately 11,000 children's books from Scholastic Inc. to elementary-school and public libraries, as well as to literacy and other community organizations, in the upstate New York area.

The university received the books due to the generosity of Cornell alumnus Kevin McEnery '70, MBA '71, executive vice president and CFO of Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company. McEnery is a member of the Cornell Library Advisory Council. The books received from Scholastic included titles for preschool children up to sixth grade, ranging from simple digest paperbacks to hardcover "picture" books.

The books, according to Cornell Library staff, were earmarked for approximately 200 libraries and organizations in Tompkins, Tioga, Cortland, Schuyler, Chemung, Cayuga, Seneca, Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Allegany counties. Cornell Library worked with BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) library system directors to get books to elementary schools in the districts that serve these counties and coordinated distribution to public libraries through the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Four County library systems. Books also are being distributed through the Family Reading Partnership to literacy organizations and agencies that serve low-income families in the Ithaca area.

Representatives from many of the participating libraries and organizations came to Ithaca May 3 to meet with McEnery and library staff and pick up their books at a Cornell warehouse on Lower Creek Road.