Cape brings books to neighborhoods

Packed with books of all shapes and sizes, Cape Henlopen School District's new bookmobile has hit the road.

“We have tons of books. Easily 5,000 books between what was donated and what we bought,” said Donna Kolakowski, supervisor of elementary education. “I can't wait to see who comes out.”

The new bookmobile began running July 8 and continue to makes stops 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through Thursday, Aug. 14. The stops are scheduled for 9, 10 and 11 a.m.

On Tuesdays, the van will stop at Burton Village, West Rehoboth Community Center and Epworth Church. The Lewes stops are at Jefferson Apartments, Savannah East and Savannah West. On Wednesdays, the van will visit Telemon in Cool Springs, Shipbuilders Village in Milton and Hidden Hills near Lincoln.

“We're all ready to go,” Kolakowski said.

The district received a $20,000 grant to run the bookmobile, but so far has only spent about $6,000 because so many other groups have donated books and money for the project. PNC, Rodel, Nemours, United Way, Rehoboth Rotary Club and Cape Henlopen Education Fund have all been generous partners, she said.

Kolakowski said she stocked the van with bins of books, sorted according to age. Board books will be available for babies and young children, and there will be plenty of chapter books for older siblings up to the fifth grade. There are also English and Spanish books available for bilingual students, she said. Bins will be brought outside for the kids to search through since the van is not big enough for foot traffic.

“I went ahead and extended it to the fifth grade because there may be older siblings who come along,” she said.

Each child receives two to three books that they can keep or return, Kolakowski said.

“This is the first time we've done this, and we would like this to continue,” she said. “We hope it gets bigger every year.”