Thanks to her relationship with the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), which is working to reopen and staff library programs at 13 schools, and her four Penn Medicine CAREs grants, Janet McMaster, RN, outpatient practice coordinator for the Trauma Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), has steadily filled the shelves at Samuel Powel School with circulating books.
McMaster’s WePAC work has inspired others. A recent book drive to fill the shelves of another WePAC-assisted library expanded her efforts outside of PPMC and across departments. Spearheaded by Laura Lombardo, manager of Community Relations, the drive collected more than 150 books within weeks, all delivered to Longstreth Elementary School.
“We were very excited to build off of Janet’s relationship with WePAC to help another struggling local library. Many employees took their time choosing books they were interested in or books their own children would enjoy. It was a very deliberate, thoughtful process, and it’s always uplifting to see such goodness in my colleagues,” Lombardo said. “It was fantastic seeing the sheer quantity of amazing books coming in and knowing that many young imaginations will be sparked.”