Dozens of New York City elementary schools will have new libraries, under an agreement between the city’s department of education and the Robin Hood Foundation.
Some 21 of the libraries will open this fall, and 25 more will be unveiled by the fall of 2006, according to a statement released by the department this month. The education department has promised $10 million for the effort, while the foundation will provide more than $6 million.
The foundation, which works to eradicate poverty in the city, conducted its own survey of school libraries recently and found that of the city’s 650 elementary schools, fewer than one in 15 had working school libraries.
The Scholastic Inc. and HarperCollins publishing companies have donated thousands of books for the libraries, and other corporate sponsors have chipped in as well.
