OUR CRITICAL LIAISON LINKS
For the more than 20,000 children served by RIF NOVA, choosing a book to take home to own and keep forever is a big deal. Many have few -- or even no -- books at home...so having a book to keep is very empowering and encourages reading for the entire family!
At the start of the school year... ...the RIF NOVA board holds a workshop for RIF NOVA liaisons who run the books for keeps distribution programs at their schools or centers. The liaisons -- often teachers, reading specialists, or school librarians -- learn and share key ideas on how to hold a successful book distribution that will engage children in reading and encourage them to read more! At the end of every school year... ...one liaison is chosen from each of our five geographic areas for exemplary work in getting RIF NOVA books distributed to children. The 2025 honorees are Emily Decarolis (Dumfries Elementary, Prince William County); Kathryn Harrington, Catie Brownback, and Mark Tierney (Polk Elementary, Alexandria); Holly Nisco (Carlin Springs Elementary, Arlington); Lucia Ortiz and Liz Rogers (FCPS Gunston Elementary School PreK and Head Start, Fairfax East); and Alisa Schultz (Falls Church McLean Children's Center, Fairfax West). Each awardee receives a bucket of children's books to augment the school library or school programming. RIF NOVA Days Once, or sometimes twice, a year, RIF NOVA liaisons create RIF NOVA distributions to engage children in the fun of selecting a new book. Snow machines, trivia games, recyclable art projects, holidays, Read Across America Day, and Clifford the Big Red Dog have all been a part of RIF NOVA Day activities. Children are encouraged to browse through colorful paperback books on display as they look for the perfect book to take home. RIF NOVA liaisons gather again in the spring for Book Ordering Day. At a meeting hosted by the RIF NOVA board, liaisons order the books for RIF NOVA distributions in the following school year. It takes a team! RIF NOVA book distributions are led by liaisons, but they can't happen without a dedicated network of teachers, administrators, PTA members, parents, and RIF NOVA board members and volunteers. With your help, we can sponsor more RIF NOVA book distributions and expand our reach in Northern Virginia as we promote a lifelong love of reading — one book at a time. |
2025 Alexandria Area Award winners from Polk Elementary (l-r) are liaison Catie Brownback, principal Carla Carter, library media specialist Mark Tierney, and RIF NOVA liaison and instructional coach Kathryn Harrington.
2025 Arlington County Area Award winner Holly Nisco shows her award certificate and new bucket of books for the Carlin Springs Elementary School library.
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Note...
Our Books for Keeps program is provided to all the schools and sites we serve, and each child is able to choose (at least) one book to take home for keeps each academic year. Other programs are available to some schools or classes depending on funding and school preference. These include our Donated Books program, Authors in Our Schools, and STEAM It Up! For details on these programs, please click here.
Our Books for Keeps program is provided to all the schools and sites we serve, and each child is able to choose (at least) one book to take home for keeps each academic year. Other programs are available to some schools or classes depending on funding and school preference. These include our Donated Books program, Authors in Our Schools, and STEAM It Up! For details on these programs, please click here.
Falls Church Children's Center Director Hallye Smith (l) and RIF NOVA liaison from New Dominion Women’s Club, Alisa
Schultz, show their awards for Fairfax West.
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Dumfries Elementary School principal Erika Williams (l) presented the RIF NOVA Prince William County Area Award to school liaison Emily Decarolis.
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At every book distribution, RIF NOVA liaisons make sure books are displayed so children can look through a full array of age-appropriate possibilities. Many children shop around until they find just the right book to take home to own forever.
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