Historic collaboration of North Coast communities working to build home libraries for students in the Dominican Republic

Cabarete, Puerto Plata,Dominican Republic.- The Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring(DREAM) Project is hosting the second annual My Very Own Library DREAM BookFair today in collaboration with Scholastic Book Fairs, supported by the familyand friends of My Very Own Library (MVOL) founder, Anne Feeley (1958-2012) andthe Bailey Tuvell Family.

The MVOL book fair events will afford more than 2,000students in the Dominican Republic the opportunity to select 10 free newSpanish Language books, over the course of the school year, to take home andbuild their own home libraries.

The events will alsobe paired with motivational literacy activities, inspiring visits from awardwinning children’s authors, such as Ana Galan, and will include a variety ofliteracy workshops that will be offered to families, so that they can learn howto better support reading in the home.

In 2014-15, more than 2,000 students in 7 Public Schoolsand 5 DREAM Schools along the North Coast of the Dominican Republicparticipated in the fair. These young readers chose more than 20,000 books, whothen created libraries in their own homes.

This year, MVOL and DREAM will distribute 20,000 more booksto our same network of readers. Allowing the participating students to choosetheir own books at the book fairs is a critical component of the program, basedon research in the Kids & Family Reading Report™ from Scholastic, in which90% of children ages 6-17 agreed that “I am more likely to finish a book I havepicked out myself.”

Students who participated in My Very Own Library book fairsin past years have commented, “I loved the book fairs because I could choseinteresting books for my home and now they are MINE!” and “I have never owned abook before” and "With the books I have in my house, I have been teachingmy little brother to read."

The first book fair for 2015-16 will take place at TheDREAM Education Center in Cabarete, Puerto Plata, followed by three additionalbook fairs in Ausberto Luna Lagombra School in La Union, the Maximo AcostaSchool in Abreu and the community of Caraballo. Students from six other publicschools along the North Coast are invited to attend these fairs. The series ofthree book fairs highlight the importance of reading and its role in providinghigh quality education to the children of the Dominican Republic.

Participating students will take home three books from eachof the first two fairs (November and February) and four books from the thirdfair in May for a total of 10 free books per student. These books will providecountless hours of reading, critical thinking and motivational activities inthe homes of the underserved communities of Abreu, Islabón, Cabarete, Sosua,Villa Liberación, Sabaneta and Caraballo.

The 2,000 students participating in this program will beselected from DREAM’s High quality Basic Education and Holistic YouthDevelopment programs: Young Stars, DREAM Summer Schools and Camps, DREAM ConLibros (The DREAM Mobile Library Program) and The DREAM Public Library Program,in addition to eight area public schools. The goal of the DREAM Book Fairs is toimprove literacy rates and ensure that all youth in the country have access tobooks and a brighter tomorrow, free

from the cycle of poverty. DREAM strives to support andpartner with the Dominican Ministry of Education, reversing the trend of lowperforming academic results and creating a shared culture of reading and highquality education. We are extending our reach this month with the opening ofthe RC22 DREAM School in San Pedro de Macoris in collaboration with theRobinson Cano Foundation. To learn more about the DREAM Project and to supportthis memorable event, please visit: www.dominicandream.org, orhttp://www.myveryownlibrary.org.

For more information about Scholastic and Scholastic BookFairs, visit the newsroom at: http://newsroom.scholastic.com