The Jean Amy Swenson Literacy Fund

My wife, Jean Amy Swenson taught in the Amsterdam schools for 32 years before retiring in 2001. She liked to joke that she had closed down half of the schools in the system. She did her student teaching at Academy Street school, which is closed. Then she started teaching at Ft. Johnson, which closed. Her next assignment was the small Florida school which also closed after a couple of years. From there she went to Vrooman Ave., which closed in 1975 and reopened as Marie Curie later that year. After a year of maternity leave for the 1978-79 school year, she was reassigned to McNulty where she stayed until retirement.

After retiring, she continued to teach as a tutor and as director of the Montgomery County Literacy Project where she helped people get their GED. Along with a partner, Bette Errig, she started the Comfort Zone program at Trinity Lutheran Church where she quickly added a book table to give books to both adults and children. When they first started, they weren’t sure if they could sustain the table, so there was a rule; One book per person, per month. It didn’t take long before she was confronted with a youngster who said to her, “I’ve got a problem and they told me you are the only one who can fix it.” “OK,” was the reply, “what is your problem?” “See this,” he answered, holding up a book. “I really like this book and want to read it.” “OK,” she responded. “You can do that.” “But, you see this book?” he said, holding up a different book. “All my friends tell me this is a really good book and I want to read it too!” Needless to say, that was the end of the one book rule. The kicker came when the boy then asked her, “When do I have to have them back?” “You don’t,” she answered. “You mean it’s mine to keep, forever?” asked the kid. And he was thrilled when she told him that was so. He had never owned a book in his life. All he had ever had were library books.

The fund was started after my wife died. My daughter and I were finishing her obituary and realized people were going to want to make donations in her memory. My daughter said to me,” Mom always believed in reading and gave out books as a part of Comfort Zone. Why don’t we start a fund to buy books for kids?” And that is how it all started.

Since we didn’t have an organization or anything at that time, the funeral home offered to let people send their donations to them while we took care of the organizational details. Unfortunately, the name we originally picked, “The Jean Amy Swenson Literacy Trust,” requires special State permission to use the word “Trust.” We quickly decided that the time and paperwork involved was too great and changed the fund’s name to its current one. Once we had our not-for -profit incorporation and our 501(c)3, we thought we were all set to go.

Unfortunately, even with documentation, the bank wouldn’t let us deposit checks made out to the Jean Amy Swenson Literacy Trust in the Jean Amy Swenson Literacy Fund’s account. So, we had to send all the checks back with a letter of explanation. Most people were very understanding and simply wrote us a new check. Since then, we have had no trouble and many, if not most, of our original donors have continued to support us. We have received not only monetary donations, but book donations as well. We do accept gently used books in good condition with no marks or writing that we give out at various events. We have had booths at Amsterdam’s Spring Fling and Italia Fest, the Veterans’ Time to Thrive car show, and Trunk or Treat. We have also co-sponsored the summer reading program at the library. This year, we are realizing one of our goals by giving every child in McNulty School a new book for the summer. McNulty was chosen as the school where Mrs. Swenson taught for most of her career. Our hope is that in the future we would be able to provide books for all of the elementary children in Amsterdam.

We are a small operation trying to do big things. Consequently, we are always looking for volunteers who can help sort books, put stickers in the books, help give out books at events, and serve on our board. There are dozens of small jobs that come up from time to time that we can use help with, too. If you are interested in getting involved or making a donation to the fund, call Robert at (518) 842-2280 or email: info@booksforkidsfund.com