Runway to reading

JetBlue to give away 100,000 books.

FORTLAUDERDALE— Hundreds of Fort Lauderdale children should not have toworry about keeping busy and mentally stimulated this summer.

Thatwas the expectation Tuesday at JetBlue Airways as the carrier launched its “Soaring with Reading” program at Joseph C. Carter Park onWest Sunrise Boulevard, one of several city sites that will distribute 100,000 free children’s books this summer through Aug. 31.

Through a partnership with RandomHouse Children’s Books, the JetBlue initiative aims to serve underprivileged children living in “book deserts” or places where there is limited or no access to buy age-appropriate books.

Last summer, Fort Lauderdale was selected as the 2017 recipient for the JetBlue giveaway through an online public vote. It’s the third U.S. city behind Detroit andWashington, D.C. to receive books through vending machines that are at the core of the airline’s sevenyear-old program.

Besides Carter Park, the other vending machine sites are: Osswald Park, 2220NW21st Ave.; Edgar P. MillsMulti-Purpose Center, 900 NW31st Ave. and Riverland Branch Library, 2710Davie Blvd.

Children who visit the machines will be able to take as many books as theywant and as often as they want to build their personal home libraries. Some of the titles are in Spanish.

Lori Canning, executive director for early learning language acquisitionwith Broward County Public Schools, called the giveaway a welcome tool to combat “summer slide,” where children stop learning and regress during their monthslong vacation.

“This is by far a unique program and a unique opportunity. I have never seen an organization come in and provide that mass amount of free books,” Canning said.

Fort LauderdaleMayor Jack Seiler proclaimed June 27 as Soar with ReadingDay and dubbed June 27-Aug. 31, as Soar with Reading Summer.

“It’s a gift that will make you smarter, it’s a gift that’s going to help you to do better in school, it’s a gift that will boost your self confidence and self esteem,” he told the children.

Seiler lauded JetBlue for “giving back to community, building community and building the next generation.”

The airline is the busiest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, accounting for 24.5 percent of the passenger traffic.

JOE CAVARETTA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler helps Matthew Cox, 3, with a book vending machine at Joseph C. Carter Park on Tuesday. JetBlue is sponsoring the Soar with Reading Summer program and will give away 100,000 free books.