The second annual World Book Night was held on Monday to help encourage children and others around the globe to read books.
Among the books given out to the children at the Jacob Riis Settlement Center in Long Island City, above, were “Kindred,” “The Ninth Ward” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
“I don’t think it matters if someone is in the first grade or the twelfth grade,” Linda Duggins, the director of multicultural publicity at the Hachette Book Group, said.
“There’s things that you can share and learn and hopefully instill in young folks,” she said.
A former resident of the Queensbridge Housing Projects, she is also the vice-president of the Queensbridge Scholarship Fund, which gives out scholarships to college students who live in the Queensbridge and Ravenswood houses.
Giving back to her community not only with the scholarship fund, but with reading, is an important deed for Duggins. “The whole idea of bringing some nurturing through my love of reading, that’s really important to me,” she said.


Welcome to the discussion.
Or, use your linked account: