Today I interviewed Ms.Lazzizera,  I asked her a few questions about her giving out books for the students to read . The first thing I asked her was what made you do this for the kids. Her response was “I conjured this idea while speaking with another teacher.  She wanted to have her students participate in a book tasting event in the library, and I knew that I did not have enough high interest books to accommodate this.  I reached out to Bridges of Books Foundation, and I shared with them the idea; they donated approximately 800 books of varying genres.”

The second thing I asked her was how was her experience doing this  to which she replied,  “My experience setting up the book tasting event was pretty seamless.  Teachers scheduled their classes to come to the library for about 20 minutes for each student to choose one book of any genre that was of interest to them.  Not only were students encouraged to take a book, they were encouraged to circulate the books amongst themselves after reading it.”  I can agree with her last statement because I was actually excited to pick out books because I have been looking to read more. 

The third question I asked her was how does reading help her in her everyday life? “The more I read, the more I increase my stamina for reading.  Also, aside from increasing vocabulary and comprehension, it helps with reducing stress, and I find it relaxing.  Lastly, I find the more one reads, the more background knowledge one can acquire.  I also feel that it makes me more creative.” I feel the same way as her because the more I read my vocabulary gets better and I find myself using words I have never used before. 

The last question is what is her favorite genre of books. “My favorite genre happens to be historical fiction. I came to love historical fiction after coming across a series of books written by Phillipa Gregory, specifically the Plantagenet and Tudor novels.”

You can find out more about the Bridges of Books Foundation here.