Community-wide reading initiative hosts first event of the year

When a committee came together to select a group of books for this year’s Bellefonte Reads campaign, they wanted to have a theme that relates to just about everyone: overcoming challenges.

According to the district’s literacy coach and eighth-grade language arts teacher Brenda Rogers, the idea behind the initiative is to encourage members in a community to read the same book, “thus having a commonality to the community and discussions.”

“While the challenges people face differ -- we all have something in our lives -- nobody has a perfect life, no matter what it might look like from the outside,” she said. “The main characters in all of the books take on the challenge and use it to make a difference.”

Books chosen this year are, “The Hate U Give” for high schoolers and adults; “The One and Only Ivan” for intermediate readers; and “Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla” for preschool and early elementary school students.

Book Distribution Night will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Bellefonte Area High School, and free books will be handed out to community members in attendance.

*By Brit Milazzo, public relations director, BASD