On a hot summer day, diving into a good book in the shade or the cool of air conditioning may be the perfect way to pass time. With the community spaces at Arlington Mill Residences quiet this summer as families social distance and APAH’s popular volunteer-led, weekly read-aloud program for children paused, kids needed a new way to access books to read this summer.

Earlier this month, on the patio of Arlington Mill, APAH hosted a book give away for children of all ages. Many familiar faces from the read-aloud program joined their neighbors to pick new and interesting books to take home. Despite wearing masks and social distancing, the volunteer team had great fun interacting with the kids. They learned about all of the kids’ topics of interest and sorted through the books to find just the right one. The kids asked for books about Star Wars, riddles, dinosaurs, mystery chapter books and even physics experiments!

APAH Board Chair Susan Bell and volunteers Rosalind and Alyssa led the book give-away event. We are so grateful for the parents from Arlington Science Focus Elementary School (ASFS) who donated many of the book. This especially resonated with Rosalind, who went to ASFS and was reminiscing about how much she loved the book fair and ice cream events when she was a student. The event was also an opportunity to share beautiful cloth masks with residents, supplied by many generous APAH volunteers and donors.