"A room without books is like a body without a soul" -- this quote, attributed to the first-century orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, would seem to doubly apply to classrooms. Indeed, access to good books is an essential part of any good education; the Project Cicero book drive, named after the aforementioned book lover, works toward ensuring that New York City's classrooms are stocked with the materials children and teachers need.

On March 7th and 8th over 1,200 teachers will come to the Hotel Pennsylvania to stock their classroom libraries from a wide variety of donated books. The Library -- which is a proud sponsor and participant in Project Cicero -- will be there to help with book distribution and selection. The Library is also asking members of our community to donate new and gently used children's and young adult books to the book drive. We will be collecting books at the Library from February 27th to March 5th. Additionally, we are seeking volunteers to help sort, organize, display, and distribute books from March 4th to 8th. Register to volunteer!

Now in its 20th year, Project Cicero has helped place over 3.5 million books in over 30,000 New York City classrooms and school libraries, reaching over one million students. Please consider donating to this worthy cause, and make sure to visit Project Cicero's website for more information, including our Wish List.