Meet JLW's Newest Partner: An Open Book Foundation

In honor of our Centennial, the Junior League of Washington (JLW) has committed to initiating
an effort to purchase and distribute 100,000 new books to children in the greater Washington,
D.C. community as part of the Resolution Read program.

Through this initiative, the JLW is partnering with a variety of community organizations to get
books into the hands of children who need them the most. An Open Book Foundation (AOB) is
one of our newest partners.

AOB brings children’s authors and illustrators to underserved schools in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area and gives each student a signed book to take home. In addition, AOB gives a
copy of the book to each student’s classroom and a set of the author’s/illustrator’s books to the
school library. Since its inception, AOB has given away over 5,500 books at over 50 events.

AOB’s program conducts several activities that support Resolution Read’s mission and vision,
including:

• Providing every student attending an author/illustrator reading event a signed book to take home;
• Inviting Spanish-speaking authors to make bilingual presentations and distributing
• Spanish language books to children whose parents speak only Spanish;
• Providing featured author’s books to each classroom, and a set of the author’s books to the school library so children who forget their book at home can read it in the classroom;
• Providing copies of featured books to each classroom, giving teachers an opportunity to read the classroom copy aloud to the students, while children follow along in their own books.

AOB and JLW’s Resolution Read Committee kicked off this new partnership on Thursday,
January 10 when they distributed 54 books at John Burroughs Education Campus. Author Mary
Amato was our special guest and read from her new book, Guitar Notes. As an extra bonus,
Mary played her guitar and invited the students to write their own songs to express their thoughts
and emotions.

Resolution Read is conducting some very exciting events and changing the lives of our immediate
community through improved literacy. We encourage JLW members to participate and be a part
of this initiative in celebration of our Centennial. Join us at the book distribution on Tuesday,
February 5 with another partner, Reading is Fundamental. Click here to sign-up for a shift. To learn more about Resolution Read, visit www.jlw.org.