To everyone who participated a few months ago in the GLW Book Fair to support Ballou Sr High School in Washington DC, I have the loveliest of news from school librarian Melissa Jackson. Melissa is back on the job and now shelving and sorting the many many books that arrived due to your efforts. (Remember we were right up against the school schedule as the fair ended and there wasn't much time to give the incoming books a thorough sort.) At the beginning of the year Ballou had less than one book for each of its students. (The ALA standard is 11 books for every student in a school library.) Well, after all the publicity and the gifts you all purchased (and the many others that were donated by authors and publishers) there are now FOUR books for each Ballou student. This is a huge big deal, guys - it's amazing. These are books that the school wants and the library is shelving and that is part of what makes our effort so significant - it's about books Ballou has asked for and not just ones that folks wanted to get rid of.
Donations are always a very nice thing but giving someone what they specifically ask for? That's a truly significant thing.
Guys Lit Wire intends to stay with Ballou - we are hoping that a more long term partnership can be formed with them so we can continue to help them grow their library. I am talking to Melissa now about a smaller book fair in late November and we certainly hope to return with our annual fair in the spring. But right now, this moment is about celebrating what we have already accomplished. Think about all those books, everyone. Think about all those books!
2 comments :
Thank you for coordinating it! It will make me even happier to hear about those books getting checked out!
Yes--this really is amazing to read about. Thanks for the follow-up.
Post a Comment