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!