Ten-year-old twins Alex and Hannah Laman’s “Little Library” is right on the Loveland Bike Trail at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Harrison Avenue
Hannah Laman of Loveland is one of 10 national winners of the Kohl’s Cares® Scholarship Program. Kohl’s awarded 10 national winners $10,000 scholarships for higher education. In addition to the recognition, Kohl’s will also donate a $1,000 to the nonprofit organization of the winner’s choice.
The winners were chosen from more than 32,000 nominees nationwide, and selected for the positive impact their volunteer efforts have on the community.
In an effort to encourage literacy among children, Hannah founded Adopt a Book, an organization that collects and distributes new and gently used children’s books to underprivileged youth. To date, Adopt a Book has donated 74,000 books to more than 50 organizations, schools and hospitals that serve children in need.
About Adopt a Book
Adopt a Book is a non-profit organization dedicated
to providing at-risk kids with books of their own.
Donate Books
Read this story about Hannah and Alex Laman the first ran on July 9, 2013
Twins Learn A Valuable Lesson Through Reading
By Education Reporter, Karen Dudley Grissom
Loveland (It’s more than a bike trail), Ohio – Ten-year-old twins Alex and Hannah Laman’s love of reading led to a project that benefits the entire Loveland community and helped to fill an empty school library. They call their service project Adopt A Book. It all started when the twins read an article about a school that didn’t have any books in its library and they decided that something had to be done.
When Loveland Magazine conducted the interview about the project, sister, Hannah was not available, but brother, Alex, and Mom, Angela, shared how it all began. “We read an article about a school library that didn’t have any books,” explained Alex. “We thought that was sad and wanted to do something to help the school.
“We talked about what we could do and discussed it with our mom,” said Alex. “We decided to start by sharing some of our own books. Then we decided to ask people to give books that they don’t use anymore.”
Since December 2011, Adopt A Book has donated more than 17,000 books to kids in need. The program runs on the generosity of people willing to donate gently-used books. The Laman
family houses the books in their garage and transports them in the family car.
What started as a service project for the 10-year-old twins has also resulted in “The Little Library” located along the Loveland Bike Trail.
“We’re trying to give books to kids who don’t have books,” said Alex, who also explained how “The Little Library” works. “There are books for kids and adults. When you borrow a book, you also leave one for someone else to read. You can also just donate books if you don’t need them anymore.”
It works on an honor system. “There are no fees or fines,” Angela said.
The Adopt A Book program has helped and been helped by several partners. It has given books to Pro Kids in Cincinnati, an organization serving children in foster care and to Faces without Places, an organization that helps children without homes. It has been the beneficiary of books collected by the Madeira City Schools’ book drive.
“Not many people think of giving books,” said Alex. “They think of giving food. We want to keep this going.”
The largest donation, to date, has been 1,000 books given at one time.
“This is a good community service project for students who need to complete service hours,” said Angela Laman, who willingly welcomed volunteer help. “In addition to book donations, we also need assistance with distribution.
“Books that are not in good condition are recycled,” she explained.
Alex and Hannah describe themselves as “just two kids who like to read,” said Alex, who wants to be a computer engineer when he grows up. In addition to reading, he also enjoys bike riding and hanging out with his sister, Hannah. By the way, Alex’s favorite book is The Hobbit.
To learn more about the program, Adoptabookcincinnati.org will be up and running soon.
