Quaker Valley Middle School book club donates 1,000 books to Ambridge Area School District

A Quaker Valley Middle School book club donated 1,000 books to two Ambridge Area School District schools as a part of its effort to eliminate book deserts.

ProjectLIT, formed in April last year, wanted to donate books to a school that did not have an in-house library or limited access to books, said Schuyler Kidd, an eighth-grade language arts teacher at QVMS.

“We want to get rid of book deserts, where areas don’t have access to books — especially ones that are a little more culturally relevant and not just ones sitting on a shelf waiting to be read,” Kidd said.

The effort is a localized chapter of the national literacy movement that aims to promote diverse reading in schools and encourage necessary conversations about topics such as race, toxic masculinity, grief, love and more, according to Project LIT Community’s chapter leader application.

The book club accepted donations of gently used or new books for over a year from students and staff. A big chunk of the donations came from Pittsburgh Penguins President and CEO David Morehouse and his family, who donated an estimated 700 books, according to Kidd.

Students spent weeks in a faculty classroom sorting through book titles ranging from the elementary to middle school level before donating them to Ambridge Area Middle School and Highland Elementary in late April.

Amelia Pribik, a member of ProjectLIT, said she was there for three weeks sorting through books and saw how everyone came together for a cause.

“It was interesting to see that when you want to help others, people come together to get those materials for others,” Pribik said.

Jamie Scafuri, a reading teacher at Ambridge Middle School, said the schools were very grateful for the books and students have already taken notice of them.

“Students have already have borrowed books,” she said. “It’s really exciting to see them excited about books and reading.”

Scafuri said the donations came as a surprise.

“We were very pleasantly surprised to receive the donation and we are thankful to ProjectLIT,” Scafuri said.

Jack Miller, another member of ProjectLIT, said the biggest takeaway from the donations was how they were giving others the opportunity to read about everyday experiences.

“I think that we’re letting other people that don’t usually have the ability to get a hold of a lot of books be able to read and learn about different people’s experiences and their day to day lives,” he said.

ProjectLIT also holds meetings once a month via Zoom to discuss books chosen to read each month.

Twenty students signed up, but 12 consistently dedicate their time to attending the meetings and readings, Kidd said. Students do not have to show up to every meeting or read the books to participate.

Matthew Henry said he appreciates how laid back the club is with its meetings.

“You can just join and hear what they’re talking about and maybe add a point. It’s a nice experience,” he said.

The club plans to continue its effort in donating books to communities. Donations will be taken again starting next fall.