Milwaukee Bucks' Lopez twins help over 5,000 Milwaukee and Waukesha students get free books

Milwaukee Bucks brothers Brook and Robin Lopez lingered past their scheduled out-time as the sky darkened Wednesday outside Auer Avenue Elementary School, where they helped students pick out free Scholastic books in a hallway dressed up as a bookstore.

Scholastic Book Fairs are a chance for students to pick out and purchase books at school for their own home libraries. But not every kid has enough pocket change to afford that.

That's where the Lopez brothers came in. Working with the Milwaukee Bucks and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, the brothers' family foundation donated funds for 5,700 students, at 17 Milwaukee and Waukesha public schools, to pick out five books each to keep from their Scholastic book fairs.

Asked why they wanted to donate books, Robin Lopez credited his grandmother and mother, a teacher, for fostering their love of reading.

"On Christmas, birthdays, we were being gifted a plethora of books," Robin Lopez told the Journal Sentinel. "They fostered that love in us and we’re just trying to pass it on."

Lopez brothers have history of helping with reading

At Auer Avenue Elementary School Wednesday night, the brothers joked around with each other and students as they endeavored to keep the attention of 25 students throughout reading two books aloud.

When Brook Lopez started reading a line from a frog character in his normal voice, Robin stopped him: "Is that how a frog sounds?" Brook dutifully dropped an octave.

After the stories, the students filed into the hallway full of books, each able to pick out five to bring home. The Lopez brothers perused the selection alongside the students, pausing to take photos with anyone who asked.

Brook and Robin Lopez, twins, have helped with reading programs before. In June, Brook Lopez was given the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for his literacy work. During his “Blocks for Books” campaign, the NBA said, Lopez contributed about $235,000 for books and literacy initiatives.

Lopez brothers saved a program that had lost funding

Since 2015, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County have organized similar events, called "My Very Own Library." Last year, philanthropic funds for that program through the University of Chicago suddenly ended.

"We were scrambling because it’s something schools not only love but kind of rely on," said Jim McLaughlin, Education Portfolio Manager for the local United Way.

In addition to providing students with books, the Scholastic fairs generate Scholastic Dollars that schools can spend on furniture, technology and books. As of last year, the My Very Own Library programs in Milwaukee and Waukesha had spent $2.5 million, which paid for nearly 500,000 books and $1.2 million in Scholastic credits.

McLaughlin said the organization has a one-year commitment from the Lopez Family Foundation for the fairs this year, meaning it still needs to secure funding for the next school year.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks' brothers Brook and Robin Lopez donate Scholastic books