MAGNOLIA, Ark.\u2014 Almost 200 books and $150 in craft supplies were donated by members of Sigma Tau Delta to the children\u2019s library at Magnolia Housing Authority Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The collections were the result of a project Sigma Tau Delta has been working on since fall 2006 and dubbed as \u201cReady to Read!\u201d Nearly every book donated is on the Arkansas\u2019 Advanced Reader lists at the elementary and high school levels, meaning the 15 to 25 children who attend the Magnolia Housing Authority in the afternoons after school will now be able to get ahead on their reading because of the availability of the books, said Rhonda Voss, resident initiative coordinator of the center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese books are a God send because the children only get to bring one book home from school and they get tired of reading it,\u201d Voss said.<\/p>\n
Sigma Tau Delta members raised more than $1,200 for the project last month at a \u201cNo Dinner\u201d Dinner and Silent Celebrity Auction Gala. Donations for the project were made by celebrities who received letters from students explaining the need for books in the community. More than 35 donations were made, including very difficult to find items such as a signed Stephen King novel, explained Sigma Tau Delta sponsor Dr. Shannin Schroeder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese books and supplies represent a nearly year-long effort on the part of our organization, and we were ready to celebrate,\u201d said Schroeder who is also an associate professor of English at SAU and director of the Writing Center.<\/p>\n
Three members of Sigma Tau Delta along with Schroeder brought the crafts, the books and a large cake which colorfully announced \u201cReady to Read!\u201d Tuesday afternoon and were met with warm smiles from the children.<\/p>\n
Kayla Henderson, a member of Sigma Tau Delta, said it made her feel good to help provide some of the classics that are staples for any children\u2019s library such as \u201cMr. Popper\u2019s Penguins,\u201d \u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web,\u201d \u201cThe Chocolate Wars,\u201d \u201cBrave New World,\u201d and the Harry Potter and Little House on the Prairie Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just hope they enjoy these books as much as I did when I was a child,\u201d said Henderson, a senior majoring in English from Maud, Texas.<\/p>\n
As an honor society in English, Sigma Tau Delta\u2019s charge is to promote literacy and the study of English in the local community. In addition to local service projects, student members also represent SAU and Magnolia annually in the national convention. Chapter President Micah Hicks, a senior English major from Springhill, Ark., is a student advisor and a voting member of the national board. Schroeder, also a member of the Sigma Tau Delta national board, is the chair for this year\u2019s national convention, which takes place in Louisville, Ky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MAGNOLIA, Ark.\u2014 Almost 200 books and $150 in craft supplies were donated by members of Sigma Tau Delta to the children\u2019s library at Magnolia Housing Authority Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The collections were the result of a project Sigma Tau Delta has been working on since fall 2006 and dubbed as \u201cReady to Read!\u201d Nearly every book donated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":3615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[276,312],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-corner","8":"category-english-and-foreign-language","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}