ERL Supports Local Literacy Programs

ERL Books at Beyond Basics

This past June, the ERL donated hundreds of books to Beyond Basics, a 501(c)(3) non- profit corporation that offers reading, writing and expanding-horizons enrichment programs to public school students in metropolitan Detroit. The ERL also provides discarded books to the Hispanic Outreach Tutoring Program in Pontiac.

Since 2004, the ERL has donated more than 3,500 books to Beyond Basics. The books come out of the ERL permanent collection as part of our effort to balance the size of the collection with our limited space. Some are duplicates, discarded tradebooks (which the ERL received for free), faculty donations and others are older, less used books that are removed to make room for new acquisitions.

Beyond Basics works with at-risk children, helping them develop basic educational skills and preparing them for productive and meaningful lives. The donated books are used in four programs currently running in the Detroit Public Schools – in the classrooms and for after-school tutoring. For more information about their program go to www.BeyondBasics.org .

Hispanic Outreach Tutoring Program helps students from grades K-8 improve school achievement and attendance and decrease detentions and drop-outs. It is sponsored by Catholic Social Services of Oakland County and uses volunteers from SEHS at Oakland University. In addition to providing book donations, the ERL coordinates OU volunteers for the program. For more information on Hispanic Outreach and to volunteer, contact Jake Arensen at jaarends@oakland.edu .