Well-behaved kindergarteners at Kauluwela Elementary listened with rapt attention during their first RIF school visitation of the year. 

Our 16 schools have set up their book distribution dates and are eagerly waiting their turn for our volunteers to get their students excited and share their love of reading!

Volunteers gathered at the end of this school year for our annual Thank You luncheon, to celebrate RIF-Honolulu’s 40th anniversary, and honor long-time volunteer Alice Fink. RIF-Honolulu started with four elementary schools in 1978 and gradually expanded over the years to our current 16 schools. The success of our program is the result of a dedicated corps of volunteers who enjoy getting children excited about reading. These ladies and gentlemen are rewarded every time they see the delight on children’s faces as they listen to stories and are then able to pick a book of their own to take home.

Miss Molly’s Grade 3 students at Kalihi Elementary welcomed RIF volunteers with an unexpected musical performance during this month’s school visit!  It was a lovely way to start the morning, capped by the excitement of selecting their own books, plus a *bonus* book picked with their eyes closed.

There were lots of smiling faces at our sixteen schools as we wrapped up our book distributions for the winter. All of our preschool through third grade students took home a new book to read.  The variety of books available resulted in children taking their time to peruse the selection before they chose the book they wanted for themselves. The students are already happily anticipating selecting their final books for the  school year in April and May. 

RIF President and CEO Alicia Levi was on the road this fall, visiting RIF program sites across the county. In September, Alicia was on Oahu to learn about our program and to share RIF’s vision and plan for the next five years.

Alicia accompanied Board members Susan Fuller and Janis Rodden to Kamaile Academy to observe our version of RIF’s Books for Ownership program. They visited several classrooms where our volunteers were reading aloud to students, and experienced the excitement when it was time for each child to select a brand new book of their very own.

Alicia commented, “The RIF services you provide are hugely impactful to the students you serve and it was extremely rewarding and informative for me to be able to visit the schools with your dedicated group of volunteers. The model your team has put in place to run RIF programming is one that I will reflect on often as we work at RIF National to continue to provide support and resources for sites such as yours.”

A big mahalo to ‘Iwalani Hodges, librarian at Nanaikapono Elementary School, who is retiring at the end of this school year.

For 28 years, ‘Iwalani has served both as school librarian and as on-site coordinator for the RIF-Honolulu program. In addition to the usual coordinator duties for the RIF school visits and book distributions, which include scheduling and communicating with teachers, ‘Iwalani made sure that our volunteers knew that they were appreciated with a sumptuous repast at every visit.

The students at Nanaikapono will miss her, and so will the RIF volunteers who have come to know her over the years.

‘Iwalani, we appreciate all that you have done to support the RIF program and volunteers at Nanaikapono, and we wish you all the best as you begin this new chapter in life. 

Mahalo and Aloha from all of us at RIF-Honolulu!

It’s February and we’re sharing our love of books and reading with our RIF keiki!

We are midway through our winter book distribution. In addition to providing books to the kindergarten through third-grade students, our second and third-graders are also choosing an extra bonus book!

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.” —Marcel Proust

At the beginning of 2017, our dedicated crew of RIF volunteers are busy unpacking the towering boxes of newly-arrived books. We are eagerly anticipating distributing all these books to our RIF keiki! We will be visiting our RIF schools from January 17 to February 22.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year full of great books!

What an ideal time of year to remember just how special the gift of reading is!

To close 2016, here are a few thoughts about the wonder of books and reading.  Enjoy!!

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” – Garrison Keillor

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

“So many books, so little time.” – Frank Zappa

“A book is a dream you hold in your hand.” – Neil Gaiman

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” – Dr. Seuss

“I cannot live without books.”  – Thomas Jefferson

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”  – Groucho Marx

“One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children.”  – Carl Sagan

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” – Alan Bennett

“Turn the pages of your imagination…READ!” – Author unknown

“The greatest gift of all is a passion for reading.” – Elizabeth Hardwick

RIF-Honolulu wishes you holidays filled with joy and a 2017 filled with great books!