HARTFORD FEDERATION OF PARAEDUCATORS ANNOUNCE BOOK FAIR ON SATURDAY
Published on September 21, 2023
MAYOR BRONIN, HARTFORD FEDERATION OF PARAEDUCATORS ANNOUNCE BOOK FAIR ON SATURDAY THAT WILL DISTRIBUTE 50,000 BOOKS TO HARTFORD YOUTH
HARTFORD, CONN (September 21, 2023) – Today, Mayor Bronin, CT AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Shellye Davis, and AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne joined volunteers and paraeducators to announce details for this Saturday’s Book Fair Giveaway. On Saturday, September 23rd from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Connecticut Convention Center, the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators will give away over 50,000 books to Hartford kids for free. The event will also feature face painting, balloon giveaways, Stop and Shop gift cards for groceries, and more.
“We are so grateful for our partners, especially the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators and Dalio Education, for organizing this incredible free book fair, and we’re so proud to be able to host this event here in Hartford,” said Mayor Bronin. “This Saturday, families can come down and pick as many books as they want, and we hope every kid who comes will be able to find books that excite them, interest them, and feed their passion and a love of reading.”
“We want you to join the paraeducators in celebrating a day of book giving in our community, and we thank the Dalio Education for distributing over 50,000 books through the First Marketplace,” said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Shellye Davis.
“Hartford Public Library is honored to partner with Hartford Federation of Paraeducators, to celebrate a day of book gifting and family literacy at the Connecticut Convention Center,” said Bridget Quinn, Hartford Public Library CEO. “Thank you to Dalio Philanthropies and AFT Connecticut, for helping to distributing FREE books through the First Book Marketplace. We are so thrilled to get more books in the hands of our community.”
“We believe that there is power in literacy, and the power is making sure that every child has books that they can build their own libraries. We want to let every parent know to come, bring your children, because reading really is a superpower,” said Hope Wyatt, President of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers.
The giveaway is made possible through the Dalio Foundation and the Hartford Public Library, as well as nearly a dozen community partners.
A recording of the remarks can be found here, and a higher quality video can be provided upon request.