Meytal and Natasha, surrounded by dozens and dozens of bags of books, ready to be delivered to our Book Babies families this fall!
As you may have already heard, Book Babies’ team leader Natasha McCurley’s family is growing…and that means our Book Babies family is changing, too!
Natasha, Simon, and Oscar are looking forward to welcoming a new baby into their family in March! In order to prepare for the new arrival, Natasha will be leaving Book Harvest at the end of this month. As you can imagine if you know Natasha, she is making very sure that the transition is as smooth as possible for her Book Babies families. To that end, our new Book Babies team leader is already on board and working closely with Natasha this month. So we are simultaneously saying our bittersweet farewells to Natasha—who assures us that she won’t be a stranger!—and welcoming aboard Meytal Barak!
Meytal comes to Book Harvest with a wealth of experience working with children and families. With both undergraduate and graduate degrees in early childhood education and nine years of experience working with families right here in Durham, she could not be better equipped to partner with our Book Babies families in developing their children’s literacy skills and preparing them for kindergarten and a lifetime love of reading. Meytal is also mother to Noam and Lior, ages 7 and 4 respectively, both book lovers in their own right and an ever-present reminder of how important it is to provide children access to books from birth.
Meytal is most excited about working with Book Babies because she is so moved by its mission. “I love that Book Harvest has such a powerful and simple mission, that what we are doing is creating opportunities for these children. And I think that could make all the difference.” While she is busy visiting families and learning the ropes around the office (she described her first week as resembling reading a good book: intense and overwhelming but something you just can’t bear to put down!), Meytal is also meeting members of our extended Book Harvest family—board members, volunteers, donors, and friends who come through our office weekly. Next time you’re in the office, make sure to introduce yourself to Meytal and welcome her to our team!