Today marks the beginning of our Bolans Primary book drive!

First of all, I would like to thank those of you who have an interest in contributing to the book drive. As the previous post has stated, the need for youth literacy development in Antigua and Barbuda is very great. To address this problem from within the schools, I believe that having a well-stocked and functional library is paramount. At the Bolans Primary School for example, I was astonished to find there among the books a collection of medical school encyclopedias from the 1970s, dozens of dense textbooks written for undergraduate college students, explicit romance novels, and stacks of free tourist magazines. The staff has expressed time and again a desire for newer and more relevant books for the students to read. Therefore, your support in this endeavor is greatly appreciated.

Here’s how to help:

We’ve established a partnership with Hands Across the Sea, a non-profit charitable organization. They’ve allowed for us two different ways to have donors contribute.

First — If you would like to send excellent quality, gently used books, please send them via USPS media mail to their Massachusetts warehouse. The address is on their book drop page, and here is the link.

Please put my name somewhere on or in the box, so that they know to send the contribution to Bolans Primary. Be sure to keep track of the number of books you sent and the shipping receipt so you can claim them as an in-kind donation for a 501c3.

Second – If you would rather not go to the trouble to collect and ship books, then please send them a donation and they will use the funds to buy books for Bolans Primary. Here is the link to their donation page.

We can pick out new books for the school using our Scholastic Literacy Partners connection. Many Peace Corps volunteers have spent anywhere from $200 to $500 at Scholastic Literacy Partners connection, and the costs run about $2.50 to $4.00 a book, which is very inexpensive for new Scholastic books. The bulk of the books Hands Across the Sea will buy come from “Friends of the Library” book sales. They go to www.booksalefinder.com and find book sales in affluent communities and then spend summer mornings book buying for schools in the Eastern Caribbean.  Books cost 50 cents to a dollar usually so if you prefer to donate cash, this is where it will go.  Any donation you make to Hands Across the Sea is tax deductible.

Hands Across the Sea also buys school supplies such as paint, printer toner, scissors, etc. from S&S Worldwide or Staples and they ship for free to their warehouse in Massachusetts. Funds donated through this book drive can be used to buy items from my wishlist.

Shipping takes place each year in October for the November arrival. This past year Hands Across the Sea shipped 23 pallets to 46 schools and 8 libraries and community reading programs in the Eastern Caribbean. Free shipping has been arranged within the US from MA to FL, and free ocean freight from FL to the islands.  If a group of you want to get together and ship sooner, Hands Across the Sea recommends using Tropical Shipping.

If you would like to see the schools Hands Across the Sea helped in 2010, please see their wish list page. Please note that the list has not yet been updated for 2011.

The projected fundraising goal for this book drive is $400.