Delaware Farm Bureau donates book barn to Morris Early Childhood Center

The Delaware Farm Bureau recently donated a book barn and set of books to Morris Early Childhood Center. The school, which is part of the Milford School District, has approximately 420 prekindergarten and kindergarten students.

The book barns, which are bookshelves shaped and painted like barns, were built by Smyrna High School students with an agriculture structures pathway. Agriculture structures teacher Jay Davis oversaw the program after New Castle County Farm Bureau board member James Correll introduced the idea.

Correll learned about the success a neighboring state’s Farm Bureau had with a similar program, and brought the idea back to Delaware to increase agriculture literacy in area youth. A set of agriculture-related books also accompanied the book barn donated to Morris ECC, including a book about growing pumpkins.

Delaware Farm Bureau First Vice President Laura Hill, a farmer from Lewes, read “Pumpkin Book” by Gail Gibbons to Morgan Fry’s class and also spoke about what it takes to grow Halloween’s iconic symbol. Hill and Sussex County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee Chair Connie Fox handed out mini pumpkins to the students.

“The book barn donation program helps us reach Delaware’s youth and get them started early learning about agriculture and healthy eating,” Hill says. “With farming being two to three generations removed now, kids aren’t growing up on farms, and many don’t know where their food comes from. These books we’ve donated today will help get the conversation and learning started.”

The Delaware Farm Bureau still has book barns available for donation to Delaware schools. Accompanying each book barn is a set of books including American Farm Bureau’s 2015 Book of the Year, “The Apple Orchard Riddle” by Margaret McNamara. Other agriculture-related books include “Seeds, Soil, and Sun,” “Chicks and Chickens” and “How Did That Get in my Lunchbox?”

For more information about acquiring one of the book barns and free set of books for a school library, call 302-697-3183.