The City of Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority is thrilled to participate in the National Book Foundation’s Book Rich Environments (BRE) program. Since 2017, BRE has distributed over 2 million new, free books to children and families living in public housing communities across the US.
As part of the program, the RRHA EnVision Center received several hundred books to give away to children and families residing in public housing. The staff at EnVision Center and RRHA properties are already planning a few events this year, including a community cookout on July 13th, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 2607 Salem Turnpike, NW Roanoke.
Heather Brush, Family Self Sufficiency Team Lead at RRHA said, “The Book Rich Environments program promotes a love of reading in children and youth. We are excited to get even more books into the hands of children and their families this year.”
“We are so thrilled and grateful to be able to distribute over 300,000 books nationally this year through Book Rich Environments. Books provide a vital outlet for young people where they can explore new worlds and see themselves reflected in endless possibilities,” said Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. Book Rich Environments iBook Rich Environments is a collaboration between the National Book Foundation, the U.S. Departments of Education (DOE) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Urban Libraries Council, and the National Center for Families Learning.
The program is made possible through the generous book donations provided by: Bloomsbury Publishing, Candlewick Press, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, and W.W. Norton & Company. In 2024, Book Rich Environments has partnered with 60 HUD-assisted communities, including eight new sites, to build a strong, vibrant population of readers across the country. For more information on Book Rich Environments, visit the National Book Foundation’s website. https://www.nationalbook.org/programs/book-rich-environments/
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