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Scholastic Donating 1 Million Books To Schools & Libraries Affected By Sandy

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- More than two months after Superstorm Sandy, most children have returned to their damaged schools.

Many of the schools, however, are having to start over, especially when it comes to replacing ruined books.

But there's one company that has stepped up to help.

Sandy not only destroyed thousands of homes, it also damaged the perception kids have of the safe world around them.

"A lot of people lost their houses and lost their children," kindergarten student "Maximilian" told CBS 2's Don Dahler. "Some people got hurt in the hurricane."

"Our school got ruined and we were out of school for two weeks," fifth-grader "Gabrielle" added.

Hundreds of schools suffered damage to their buildings, but what's not as apparent is the damage on the inside -- specifically the hundreds of thousands of books that were ruined.

So publishing giant Scholastic has decided to help replace them. It is donating 1 million books to schools and libraries that suffered damage during the storm.

"Communities are made up of businesses, individuals, families and we all have to play a role. Everyone can step up and do something," Greg Worrell, President of the Scholastic Classroom and Community Group said.

And the first school to receive delivery of 7,000 new books was the Our Lady of Czestochowa School in Jersey City.

"We had 7 feet of flooding in the dining hall and in the boiler rooms," said principal Anna Mae Stefanelli.

When the storm hit, they were just finishing up a book fair. Thousands of books were destroyed.

But as of Tuesday, the school library was restored and by the looks on the faces of its students, you can tell what it means to them.

"I like snake books and dinosaur books," said a student named "Max."

"I like science because they learn about all kinds of cool stuff," said kindergartener "Shreyn."

"I like a joke book 'cause I like telling jokes," said fifth-grader "Jack."

That is a good thing because after the past few months, everyone affected by the storm could certainly use a good laugh.

A Union Beach school was also destroyed, but a trucking company is picking up 2,000 books for the district and is donating storage space until the school is rebuilt.

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