Rebekah for Books & Books Literary Foundation

When I was in elementary school, Gwendolyn Brooks came to visit. Yes, the actual Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

She read her poems to us, and when the girl in front of me fell asleep, our teacher apologized profusely. Gwendolyn Brooks said something like, "It's wonderful that she fell asleep. That's what rhythm does to us."

I've often thought back to my memories of that day and wondered if it was really Gwendolyn Brooks. How did my little magnet program at Melrose Elementary School in Allapattah manage to bring THE Gwendolyn Brooks in for a poetry reading in the mid-80s?

As I was drafting this page, I did a little research to make sure I wasn't making it up, and I confirmed online that Gwendolyn Brooks appeared at the Miami Book Fair in 1985 when I was seven years old and in the second grade. I think Books & Books, the local independent bookstore that sponsored the book fair, probably arranged for her to visit our school. So it is especially meaningful to now have the opportunity to fundraise on behalf of the Books & Books Literary Foundation to give other young readers lifelong memories like hearing the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks in her own voice.

Every child should get to experience extraordinary experiences with authors and writers.

This Give Miami Day, I’m raising money for the Meet an Author, Build a Library program. The Books & Books Literary Foundation brings authors into Title I public schools in Miami-Dade County and gives every student a signed copy of the author’s book to take home. Not just students who can afford one. Every student.

Research links the number of books in a child’s home to how far they go in school, and according to school staff, most of the students we serve have few or no books at home. Each signed book gets shared with siblings, parents, and grandparents, multiplying its impact. School librarians say the visits spark a new reading culture: “Opportunities like this are rare. Meeting authors in person, hearing their stories, and receiving free books sparked curiosity, imagination, and the interest to read.”

What your gift does:

• $10 puts a signed book in a child’s hands, and in their home
• $250 gives a book to every student in a classroom
• $2,000 helps bring an author to a Title I school

The Books & Books Literary Foundation has put more than 35,000 books into the hands of children and families across Miami-Dade. Help me get more books to students today with a donation to the Books & Books Literary Foundation. The first $1,000 in gifts will be matched on Give Miami Day.

Thank you!

Rebekah Shoaf

Author Kerry Cerra with 4th & 5th graders at Leisure City K-8Author Scott Reintgen with 6th graders at Rockway Middle School