Interview with P.S./I.S. 30 Parent Coordinator Rana Abu-Sbaih
By Alyson Aladro
Rana Abu-Sbaih is a parent coordinator at P.S./I.S. 30 in Brooklyn, where she founded Free Book Fridays, an ongoing program for her students that gives out – you guessed it! – free books on Fridays! I had the pleasure of chatting with her about her love of reading, Free Book Fridays’ origin story, and how she came to be the proud owner of the first Little Free Library in Bay Ridge.
On sharing a love of reading:
I grew up as a child who loved to read. We were children of immigrants and our parents believed pretty strongly in the public library. So, we would go off into the public library, and I loved it. We would participate in things like Summer Reading and all that. And reading just became part of who I am, so when I became a mother, reading to my children was just a natural extension of caring for them and showing love to them. As a new mom one of the first things I did was become certified as a Learning Leader, which is one of the ways at P.S. 102 that you can come in and do things at school.
On getting her own Little Free Library (the first in Bay Ridge!):
When my son started at P.S. 102, I looked at (parent coordinator) Margaret Sheri and I said, “You look like you’re about as pregnant as I am.” And our kids ended up being born about two weeks apart and we became very close. We led, I think over 10 years of book clubs together, and I also led the Scholastic book fair. I used the incentive money to buy a lending library for P.S. 102. Right around that time, I had heard about the Little Free Libraries, and loved the idea and wanted one in front of my apartment. I posted about it on Facebook and put myself in to get one of the impact libraries. I didn’t get the grant, but I guess garnered enough interest from the community that when I ended up leaving P.S. 102, my gift from Ms. Sheri and the community there was my Little Free Library!
On how Free Book Fridays got started:
I realized in a school there are so many closets of books that are not used, but it just felt like whether they’re old curriculum or they’re old classroom or library books, better that they were in the hands of children and families than collecting dust or to be disposed of. So we started putting out a table every Friday…
I think the kids get the message that books are something exciting. Books are a gift. Books are a treasure. I think that they get the feeling that we here at school think that reading is so important, and that they’re important enough to own books.
We set up a table with boxes, I take them in my arms, go up and down the block talking to all the parents. One of the parents said to me the other day, “You saying it’s Free Book Friday in three languages is giving me life right now.”
On collaborating with Brooklyn Book Bodega:
When I first reached out to Brooklyn Book Bodega and asked them for help with the project, I didn’t realize how much access I would end up having. At the time, they really gave me a springboard. They gave me the foothold into being able to do this. It was really Brooklyn Book Bodega who gave me that pull with families. Like I’m not just putting garbage out on this table, I’m not sending you home with stuff that we don’t want anymore, you know? And that was huge.
I had told them that I wanted to set up a lending library and at the time I thought it was just going to be a bookshelf, but then we actually had a structured book-lending box. So when I brought that over, BBB said, “We’d be happy to send you things for Free Book Friday but how do you feel about introducing it with a book giveaway?”
So they themselves right from the beginning were just like, Let’s go a step beyond, let’s do this. It was amazing because it was really within my first two months of work, and I used it as a way to introduce myself to teachers and to students in the building – by inviting them down one class at a time to choose one of the books.
On sharing joy in your community:
There are so many opportunities for people to buy books that I feel like it’s okay for me to keep giving them away for free. It’s something that I love to do; it brings me so much joy. Even on a day when I’m sometimes exhausted, I’ll fill up the trunk like I did at 102 and go visit all the little libraries and be like, “Look what I got!” Let me like, share the bounty. When you’re doing something you’re passionate about and giving back to the community, I can’t imagine that you could go wrong. Feels like, whatever brings you joy makes it easier for you to share that joy.
If you are inspired by this and want to host your own book giveaway or start your own little library, get in touch. We can help!
Alyson Aladro is the Communications Associate at Brooklyn Book Bodega. She has a PhD in Cognitive, Social, and Developmental Psychology, and is the mother of two born-and-bred Brooklynites.
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