Nancy Teague reads to students from Greensboro’s Archer Elementary during a Hooked on Books visit to Barnes & Noble in April.
By Bruce Buchanan
Tommy and Nancy Teague settle into comfortable chairs at Tate Street Coffee House, a landmark Tate Street hangout for UNCG students. While students around them pour cream and sugar into mugs and pour over term papers on their laptops, the Teagues recount how they began a book donation campaign that has helped youngsters for more than a decade.
“I was in here one afternoon and I was looking at the New York Times,” Tommy Teague said. A feature story in that newspaper focused on a New York City man named Burt Freeman, who took children from Harlem for a bookstore outing.
“I said, ‘This sounds like something we would be interested in,’” Teague said. So he called up Freeman and, before long, they had a meeting lined up to discuss the nuts and bolts of the book giveaway.
That was 11 years ago. Today, the Teagues take approximately 140 third- and fourth-grade students from Greensboro’s Archer Elementary to Barnes & Noble each year for a day at the bookstore. The Teagues selected Archer because it is a Title I school serving a high percentage of low-income students. However, all third- and fourth-graders get to participate in the book program, not just those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
UNCG has worked closely with the Teagues on the project. Every year, 140 School of Education students serve as volunteers and mentors. Each college student is paired with an Archer Elementary student, and the older students help the children select their books. Nancy Teague said the project is a good learning experience for UNCG students who plan to enter teaching.
The local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, of which Nancy Teague is a member, also provides volunteers to help make the event a success.
While the School of Education has worked with the Teagues, the couple’s connection to the university goes back much earlier. Nancy Teague is an UNCG alumna and earlier this year, the School of Education honored the Teagues as winners of the 2013 Distinguished Service Alumni Award for their work with this book donation program.
“To not only financially support this program, but to also support the program with time is extraordinary,” said Terri Jackson, Director of Development for the School of Education.
Nancy Teague said the project goes far beyond just distributing books. The students, some of whom have never been to a bookstore before, get a fun, enriching experience.
Each child receives his or her own Barnes & Noble gift card. Using their allotted amount of money, the students shop for books. The Teagues say the bookstore has been a great partner, offering the students a significant discount on their purchases.
“It’s more than buying a book; it’s learning to shop and budget,” Nancy Teague said. “They can choose whatever books they want as long as they are reading books—no coloring books or sticker books.”
The Teagues visit the classes beforehand to help students prepare for the trip. The students go to the store in small groups throughout the school year. Before returning to school, the Teagues take the students to the McDonald’s at Friendly Center for lunch (with the restaurant providing a generous discount).
The Teagues say that the stories they hear from the grateful kids make the countless volunteer hours worthwhile. Nancy Teague said that one boy said he was going to use his books to teach his father to read. Another girl takes the books she bought to and from school each day, because she doesn’t want them out of her possession. And still another child said she was taking her books home to share with her younger sister.
Tommy Teague said, “We’ve had children tell us it’s more wonderful than Christmas!”
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