PROJECT CICERO is a partnership of independent, public, and parochial schools, private and public organizations and corporations whose primary goal is to supplement or create classroom and school libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools through an annual citywide book drive. PROJECT CICERO also puts books into homeless shelters, juvenile detention facilities, community centers, pre and after school programs, and wherever else there is a need. This past year, its tenth year of operation, PROJECT CICERO distributed 200,000 books. To date, PROJECT CICERO has placed 1.5 million books into 8,500 classrooms and school libraries reaching 350,000 children in under-resourced schools in New York City.
Books will be collected March 7-10, 2011.
Executive Committee:
Laureine Greenbaum, Susan Robbins, co-chairs
Lynn Abraham, Rona Berg, Andrea Labov Clark, Roz Edelman, Peggy Ellis, Linda Gelfond, JoAnn Goodspeed, Penny Gorman, Pamela Hayman, Patricia Langer, Ellen Hay Newman, Christy Porter, Cynthia Rothman, Jeryl Rothschild, Carrie Silberman, Silda Wall
Advisory Committee:
Carolyn McGown, Fordham University and New York City Teaching Fellows, Liz DeSario, Teach for America New York, Rebecca Kraus, Children For Children Foundation, Dede Brown, New York Post, Sara Holliday and Rachel Henry, New York Society Library
Student Co-chairs:
Amanda Edelman, Stephen Goodspeed, Christopher Gorman, Jimmy Peraffan, Sarabeth Spitzer, Matthew Weinstein
Founders:
Laureine Greenbaum, Susan Robbins, Silda Wall, Fawn White
Partners:
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The New York Society Library — Founded in 1754, the NYSL is the oldest Library in New York and is open to all for reading and reference with circulation by subscription. The Library is committed to literacy and has public school-based education and community outreach programs in New York City. |
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Children for Children Foundation — Founded in 1996, Children for Children (www.childrenforchildren.org) empowers young people and families to “Grow Involved” by volunteering their time and resources to benefit youth and others, with a particular focus on providing critical materials and services to NYC schools serving under-resourced communities. |
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Vornado Realty Trust provides the Distribution Center as well as book boxes and extensive storage facilities. |
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Teach For America New York — Teach For America is working to eliminate educational inequity in New York City and across the nation. TFA does this by calling upon the nation's most promising future leaders to commit two years to teach in low-income communities. More than 1,000 corps members are teaching in nearly300 schools across the Bronx, Washington Heights, Harlem, the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn, improving the education of more than 75,000 students every day. |
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The New York City Teaching Fellows — Outstanding graduates and professionals join a highly selective program dedicated to raising student achievement in New York City’s under-performing public schools. Teaching Fellows use their diverse experiences and knowledge to positively affect the lives of the City’s children. |
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New York Post provides book transportation. |
PROJECT CICERO has received book donations from:
The Academy of American Poets; Agora Publications, Inc.; Candlewick Press; Chronicle Books; Doubleday; Feiwel & Friends; First Book National Book Bank; Gibbs Smith, Publisher; Grosset & Dunlap/Price Stern Sloan; HarperCollins Publishers; Harry N. Abrams, Inc.; Kirchoff/Wohlberg; Little, Brown and Company; Lee & Low Books; Macmillan; Marshall Cavendish; Penguin Young Readers Group; Perseus Books Group; Prentice Hall Press; Random House Children's Books; Scholastic, Inc.; Simon & Schuster; Sleeping Bear Press.; Square Fish; Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.; Ten Speed Press and Workman Publishing.
PROJECT CICERO collects new and gently used books for children and young adults. Books must be in new or excellent condition. We need early readers through high school fiction and all non-fiction (including reference books, biographies, science and math), both hardcover and paperback. Picture books are also welcome. Reference materials should not be more than five years old. PROJECT CICERO does not accept discards from school libraries, textbooks or books for adults.
Books are donated by families, individuals and publishers. Primarily, PROJECT CICERO receives books from families with children in New York City independent, public and parochial schools. In our most recent collection, families from 100 schools collected books.
All of the collected books are transported to the distribution center where hundreds of student, parent and teacher volunteers unpack, sort, and display the books. Teachers affiliated with PROJECT CICERO and teaching at under-resourced schools are invited to the distribution site to make their selections.
E-mail PROJECT CICERO at info@ProjectCicero.org or call PROJECT CICERO at (212) 288-6900 x511.
PROJECT CICERO encourages children to help children. Hundreds of students have helped to make PROJECT CICERO a success. Student coordinators at each of the participating schools aided by parents and faculty, organize and advertise the collection of the books. More than 100 independent, public and parochial schools will be collecting books this year. Students are also involved in the set up and distribution of the books. Students may receive community service recognition for their participation.
If your school is not involved, and you would like it to be, call PROJECT CICERO at (212) 288-6900 x511 or e-mail info@ProjectCicero.org. Each participating school is asked to appoint one or more students, parents and faculty members to coordinate the drive. Representatives are invited to a reception in January at The New York Society Library, 53 East 79th Street. There, they receive information and flyers and meet representatives from other schools.
To be considered for Project Cicero's 2010 book drive, please have an administrator or literacy coordinator send a letter of recommendation for your school, including its school name, phone number, address, district and principal, and a brief description of how the books would be used. Please include your school's free lunch participation and an email address where you can be reached. Schools will be selected in February 2010 to participate in the March 2010 book distribution.
Please send your request to:
or email info@projectcicero.org
