Aid for Schools or Public Libraries Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

We've put together a list of resources for schools and public libraries damaged by Hurricane Sandy - hundreds across the area and in New York City. We will update as we gather more information, and please share any information you have in the comments.

• The Simon & Schuster publishing company is “offering to any public or school library damaged by Hurricane Sandy a donation of 500 ‘best of’ titles in order to help in the restoration of their collections.”  They are inviting individual libraries and schools to participate with them in this effort. If you know a school or library in need, please have them contact michelle.fadlalla@simonandschuster.com in the Education and Library Marketing department.
• Scholastic Books has created a program, “One Million Book Donation for Schools and Libraries”. They are accepting book grant requests from heavily-damaged schools and libraries in the tri-state region. Find their application and more info here.
• First Book is a nonprofit organization that gives new books to children in need. If your program’s books have been damaged by Sandy, contact First Book here.

In our neighborhood, this Saturday, November 17, local Girl Scout troop 2440 will be collecting new and gently used books to help re-stock the shelves of P.S. 52 in Staten Island. P.S. 52 was hit so hard by hurricane Sandy that they are still pumping water and sewage out of the building. All of their books were ruined. If you live nearby you can drop off kid's books at the Citibank on 375 Court Street (@1st Pl) from 10am-1pm. The target age range for books is 5-12 years old.

Finally, the Brooklyn Public Library has stepped up in a number of important ways to help hurricane relief efforts, from accepting and distributing donations at many branches, to sending out bookmobiles to bring books, donations and charging centers to hard hit areas, to establishing warming centers and visiting children at storm evacuation centers and more.  A number of Brooklyn Public Library branches suffered damage from the storm - flooding damaged furniture and books at the Red Hook branch for instance.  If you would like to help the Brooklyn Public Library restore damaged collections, you can donate here- the link will bring you to a donation page where you can specifically designate funds for "BPL Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts" if you'd like. Thank you!