A public service project by reunion classes

`Bring a Book to Brown' means thousands of books for R.I. children

Brown alumni will donate thousands of books to the "Read to Me" program at the Hasbro Children's Hospital. Singer/songwriter Carly Simon will highlight the reunion public service project by reading to Hasbro patients at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 26.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A doctor's appointment, particularly in a large hospital, can be a frightening experience for a child. In an effort to put young patients at ease and promote children's literacy, Brown University alumni will arrive at their class reunions with brand-new children's books destined for Hasbro Children's Hospital of Rhode Island.

"The joy and habit of reading can set early in young peoples' lives if we older folk lend a hand," said Theodore Sizer, Brown professor of Education and honorary chair of this year's Bring a Book to Brown project. "Bring a Book to Brown is such a hand. What happier gift can we give to a young person?"

During Reunion/Commencement Weekend, May 24-27, the Brown Alumni Association will collect children's books from alumni at various sites on campus. The books will be distributed to Rhode Island schoolchildren who are visiting Hasbro Children's Hospital through the hospital's "Read to Me" program. The inter-generational program affords young patients an opportunity to listen to volunteers read books to them in the pediatric clinic. After their doctor's appointment, each child takes home a book.

As part of the reunion project, singer/songwriter and Brown parent Carly Simon will read to dozens of young patients at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 26, in the lobby of Hasbro Children's Hospital. (Simon is the author of such children's books as The Nighttime Chauffeur, Amy the Dancing Bear, The Boy of the Bells, and The Fisherman's Song.)

Editors: Although the event is not open to the public, reporters and photographers are welcome.

In an effort to secure as many books as possible, Brown's Office of Alumni Relations has contacted several publishers and Brown graduates in the publishing field. Brown alumni unable to attend Reunion/Commencement Weekend may support the program by ordering books through the Brown Bookstore. Returning graduates will also have the opportunity to purchase children's books written by Brown alumni at various campus locations for donation.

"Bring a Book to Brown," now in its second year, distributed some 2,500 books to Rhode Island schoolchildren through the Children's Crusade last year. The program is an annual public service project by the Brown Alumni Association.