Award-Winning Children’s Author Visits Drew Hamilton Community Center

Award-Winning Children’s Author Visits Drew Hamilton Community Center

On April 16, award-winning author Alicia D. Williams visited children at the Drew Hamilton Community Center to talk about reading and writing as part of the National Book Foundation’s Book Rich Environments (BRE) program, which connects young people with authors and deepens their love of reading. 

Ms. Williams is the author of numerous children’s books, including Mid-Air, a middle grade novel in verse that was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature; middle grade novel Genesis Begins Again, which received Newbery and Kirkus Prize honors, was a William C. Morris Award finalist, and won the Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award for New Talent; and picture books, such as The Talk, a Coretta Scott King Honor book and Jump At The Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston.  

The attendees participate in community center programs at Polo Ground Towers, Grant Houses, Clinton Houses, and Robinson Houses. After the author talk, they received free signed copies of Mid-Air and the The Talk, which was available in English and Spanish. 

BRE helps children living in public housing develop a lifelong joy of reading by connecting them with reading-related resources. The National Book Foundation partners with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Education, the Urban Libraries Council, and the National Center for Families Learning on the program. 

BRE has distributed over 2 million new, free, and diverse books to public housing residents since it was launched in 2017. This year, BRE partnered with 60 HUD-assisted communities across the country to further its missions and will distribute over 300,000 books to young people and families. This year, NYCHA will receive 35,000 books.  

“Reading opens doors for our children to explore, create, and dream,” said Audrey Washington, Director of Public-Private Partnerships at NYCHA. “We sincerely appreciate Ms. Williams for taking time to visit and engage with our youngest NYCHA residents. Many thanks to our partners in this initiative – National Book Foundation and the NYC Division of Youth and Community Development.”   

The books were donated by BRE publishing partners ABRAMS, Bloomsbury Publishing, Candlewick Press, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, and W. W. Norton & Company.  

Books for NYCHA residents will be distributed at the community centers located at the following developments: Richmond Terrace, Latimer Gardens, Clinton Houses, Rutgers Houses, Carey Gardens, Tompkins Houses, Glenwood Houses, Butler Houses, Soundview Houses, and Cypress Hill Houses. 

For more information about how to receive free books, email partnerships@nycha.nyc.gov.