PLAINFIELD – Students at William B. Orenic Intermediate School in Plainfield are holding a book drive for preschool-level books they will donate to Marycrest Early Childhood Center in Joliet. The books should be new or gently used.

Monetary donations to purchase new books are also needed and can be taken directly to WBO Intermediate School, at 5820 W. Theodore Street in Plainfield, or pledged through gogetfunding.com/citizenship-project-literacy-matters-in-early-childhood/.

The fifth grade students in Troy District 30-C teacher Allison Acevedo’s Citizenship through Community Service classes are manning the book drive, creating flyers, designing a website, writing letters asking for contributions and researching the effects of illiteracy on school children.

The book drive will culminate at the WBO Family Reading Night, Oct. 28, after which the students in Acevedo’s classes will deliver the books to the children, participate in literacy-based activities with them and read to them.