Thanks to the Hall County and Gainesville City school districts, at least 1,200 children went home with their own books for the holiday season on Sunday evening.
The book giveaway was part of Christmas on Green Street, and it was the first time the two school districts had collaborated on a book distribution at the event.
"We all have those memories [during the holidays] of sitting down with our parents and having them read a book to us," said Hall County School District Finance Director Jonathan Boykin following Monday night's Hall County School Board meeting. "The idea was just to get families to share a book together."
Boykin said he and Kathy Pethel, the Director of Finance for Gainesville City Schools, put their heads together with volunteers from Gardens on Green to coordinate the event. Children were invited to come to the Lee & Kathy Lovett Literacy Garden on the grounds of the Hall County School District Central Office, and then they were allowed to select a book to take with them.
"We had several great titles - 'The Night Before Christmas,' 'Polar Express'...'The Little Reindeer.' We wanted a good variety for different folks," Boykin said, noting that they had both English and Spanish versions of some of the books.
Boykin said both school systems set aside funds for the book purchases, and he said some vendors made book donations.
Among the guest readers at the Sunday night event were former Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal, who made literacy a priority during her tenure as first lady, Hall County School Superintendent Will Schofield and Gainesville School Superintendent Jeremy Williams.
Boykin said given the success of Sunday's event, there will be others in the future.
"This was our first one, but we'll definitely be trying to do another literacy event next year for Christmas on Green Street," Boykin said.
