Food drive at library promotes reading and helping community
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on November 28, 2014 1:46 PM
The Friends of the Library organization is donating two cans of food to the Salvation Army for every book read.
The new food drive, called Food for Thought, was born from the teen advisory committee at Wayne County Public Library.
For advisory committee member and student at Eastern Wayne High School, Han Wang, 15, the combination of food drive and reading makes perfect sense.
"Food allows people to be full; and books help people become full of knowledge," Han said.
Tamara Baltazar, young adult services librarian, said Food for Thought is not just to help the Salvation Army raise food stock, but to also encourage teenagers to read.
"It is really hard for teens to get into reading because, when they were younger, their parents came in, checked out a book and read it to them at home. When they are older that doesn't happen anymore. This encourages reading among teens because they know they are helping someone by doing it. In the process, maybe they will find that one book that sparks their interest," Ms. Baltazar said.
The food drive is not geared to only teenagers, said Han, but its focus is heavy toward the younger readers.
"(The teen advisory committee) talks about ways to make the library fun and involve the community, (what better way) to do that than help people in the community," Han said.
Liyah Foye, 15, student at Wayne Early Middle College High School and committee member, said Food for Thought is an inspiring way to encourage reading.
"I can't speak for everyone, but for me, if someone told me 'All you have to do is read a book and they donate cans of food,' I would be all for it and get involved. It is helping the community," Liyah said.
The food drive will last until the end of this month. To participate, read a book and then write down what was read on a card provided by the library. The card will go on the Food for Thought display, and for that book, cans of food will be donated to the Salvation Army.