LINC Caring Communities Coordinator Edina von Hofman — a librarian by academic degree — gushed with enthusiasm as she drew the shiny books out of their packing boxes.

This one in her hand was a red-rimmed children’s book colored with plant leaves and flowers around a smiling boy with a trowel — Jayden’s Impossible Garden by Mélina Mangal — one of dozens of books she'll be giving away to her Gladstone Elementary kids in the Kansas City Public Schools during Gladstone’s Lights On Afterschool celebration this week.

“I love new books,” she said. “I love smelling them, feeling them. They’re very bright and colorful . . . They give you a sense of feeling special.”

LINC purchased some 1,500 children’s titles from the non-profit First Book — a partnership that has distributed more than 100,000 books over the years to LINC families and schools. This particular order coincides with the annual national Lights On Afterschool week during which LINC’s school sites celebrate the powerful role of after-school programs in their communities.

“We at LINC believe in getting books into the hands of students several times throughout the year,” said LINC Caring Communities Administrator Sean Akridge.

“One of the important programs in after-school is focusing on reading literacy,” he said, “and how better to do that than having books? Not just books at school, but more importantly, books at home.”

First Book is a national, nonprofit social enterprise that believes in educational equity as a path out of poverty.

LINC looks to First Book to provide high-quality children’s books that reflect the cultural and racial diversity of the schools and communities LINC serves.

Books also bring that extra joy to the relationships LINC’s teams build with their families.

“This is special because it gives us a way to connect with the community and with parents,” said Ne’Kye Sheppard, LINC’s Caring Communities Coordinator at Indian Creek Elementary School in the Center School District.

“My kiddos . . . do love reading,” she said. “And we’re making it a fun way to enjoy books and reading and heightening their reading skills. It’s going to be awesome.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer

Video edited by Bryan Shepard