by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- Children’s Chance donated 35,000 books to Grenada Community Library & Resource Centre
- Read More project to donate 400 books to at least 80 schools
- Library celebrates 5 years promoting literacy in Grenada
The Grenada Community Library & Resource Centre is empowering the nation’s schools to advance their literacy programme.
The library was the recipient of 35,000 books which was donated to them by Children’s Chance, a non-profit organisation established in 1988 in the US state of Minnesota, that works to eliminate the shortage of school textbooks and library books in English-speaking countries by collecting thousands of useable textbooks and library books discarded in the United States.
Since its inception, Children’s Chance (CC) has sent 76 containers to 10 English-speaking nations totalling almost 3 million books and is serving over 2 million schoolchildren around the world.
2011 was described as a record year for the organisation as they shipped 5 containers (175,000 books) to Antigua, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, giving each country 1,300 boxes containing 35,000 books for their schools and libraries.
Grenada is among a number of other Caribbean countries to receive such a generous donation which will form part of the library’s “Read More” project. The project aims to donate 400 books to at least 80 schools across the tri-island state and highlights over 5 years of the library’s services in the promotion of literacy in Grenada.
The books span various genre including educational, thriller, mystery fiction, suspense fiction. crime fiction, action, and adventure.
Melissa Hillaire, General Library Coordinator, says the library will ensure that these books are circulated within each school in order to ensure that the project is sustained. “Our goal is to donate 400 books to at least 80 schools including pre-primary, primary and secondary and beyond. We also intend to train a staff member in library science to ensure the consistent circulation of books within each school.”
The Ministry of Finance has also provided support to the Grenada Community Library by granting the relevant concessions for the importation of the books. Mount Cinnamon also came on board to be the partner for the month of February and was very instrumental in providing labour and transportation.
“We wish to invite other partners for literacy and interested bodies to join in on this “Read More” campaign,” said Hillaire.
During the official launch of the project on Thursday, 28 February, students sorted books for their respective schools.
