Smooth Seas

Wow, how exciting to see our project take off! Our garage is pleasantly crowded with all the donations.

We are thrilled to be almost HALFWAY to reaching our goal, having picked up books from a generous neighbor and a boatload of reading material from Ms. Benda's room from Beta. Way to go, about 200 books today!

Molly E. has signed on to host a neighborhood drive! Awesome -- won't you join her in leading your own?

And we had an article in the Sting today! Very nice -- thanks to Asif L.

Ahoy mates! This is a PSA for all students who have extra books lying idly around the house. Instead of letting them unnecessarily take up space, consider donating them.

As Walt Disney said, "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." One book can be all it takes to inspire the imagination of a kid or to relieve the worries of an adult. So give a book; give a dream.

Studies show that access to books is essential to success in literacy. Forming a reading habit at a young age significantly correlates with achieving higher scores. Yet most people don't realize that 60% of underprivileged children do not own a single book. Many of these students are less likely to develop adequate reading proficiency, which puts them at a further disadvantage later on in life.

Kathy and Tanya Nguyen strive to alleviate this serious issue. Over spring break, they cleaned out about 250 books from their shelves and basement. Wanting to expand the project, they founded the Bookaneers drive, which calls for gently used books to redistribute among those who need them. In the following weeks, five Roswell students joined the crew, and they received considerable support from teachers and administrators.

School's end is finally near, which means students may be especially at this time finding books they don't need anymore. Books can be dropped off in rooms E104, F118, G112, H102, or in the box in the media center; be handed to Tanya or Kathy; or be picked up by arrangement (contact via email). The reading material, no matter what audience, will be sorted and donated to appropriate charities across Georgia, including group homes, shelters, and hospitals.

There is no deadline to donate books, as the project will continue through next year. However, Bookaneers would like to have a sufficient amount to give to people over the summer. At press time, the book count was 345. Their goal is 1500 books. Their progress is updated and FAQ is hosted at bookaneers.blogspot.com.

If anyone has questions or is interested in helping out more or collecting books in neighborhoods over the summer, please contact bookaneers.drive@gmail.com! Bookaneers greatly appreciates all efforts.

We're def planning on sorting and taking pictures soon!

Full Speed Ahead

Today we collected 70 books: some from the media center, and many from a wonderful neighbor of ours. There are also piles more from Beta members -- thanks so much to Ms. Benda for making that a possibility. We are so excited to be over a third of the way there.
Thanks to all who helped us get this far. But we still need to keep sailing! So don't forget, it'd be awesome if you could get your neighborhood into this over the summer. Our neighbors had very enthusiastic responses; you'd be surprised to find how many people want to get some books off their hands!
And, we've just received news from Becca M. that she knows of a library in Georgia seeking books. Details soon!

opening a book
is opening a door
to opportunity
so please, give and tell others to give;
help out your community

Dive in!

The end is near, for school, that is, and it's been quite an eventful week for Bookaneers!

Even through the rain, Gabby G. just came by with an excellent contribution of about 120 books from her house and some from NHS, so a flood of thanks to her!

Wingfield Gates HOA has agreed to let us have a box right outside the neighborhood for drop-offs, and neighboring families have expressed enthusiasm to bringing us their books. Nice.

And, we definitely have more books waiting for us in the media center. Keep them coming; we really appreciate it.

All Hands on Deck!

Hello all,

Please keep up the donations! As classes end, after exams and finals, you might find some review or textbooks you no longer require. We would really dig it if you would give them to us to redistribute to others who do need them. Thank ye!

Also, Asif L. is working on an article for the Sting, which is great, and Jake M. is going to set up some Morning Buzz footage, so we are def sailing the high seas of publicity right now. But don't let us sink -- get everyone involved! We want to be swimming in an ocean of books. Remember, it would be really wonderful if you could help out over the summer, as well.

Swashbuckling!

Well, today Kathy, Tanya, and Bip put up flyers around the school. They're brightly colored, so we hope they'll catch plenty of fish -- err, of eyes. We also brought home a nice bag of loot from Mrs. Williams's.

Thanks to Asif L. for writing a short notice in the Sting about us! The publicity is much appreciated.

Keep bringing those books in and spreading the word!

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."
-- Walt Disney