The 2024 book drive is an organization organized by the new Book Club leaders Ava Bowles ’25 and Catherine Hansen ’25. This is a drive where people donate used books in good contention for a good cause.
The children’s book project is an organization to donate books for schools and people with low income and who don’t have the option to buy new books for the school year. The organizers see it as an amazing opportunity to help out children and parents.
Recently, an article posted by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) stated that “Only 34.6 percent of 8 to 18-year olds claim in a survey that they enjoy reading in their spare time.”
This is a devastating number because many of these students who stated that they did not enjoy reading in their free time, don’t even have the option to purchase a book that they enjoy. This is why the children’s book project was created, so students with lower income can enjoy reading without worrying about the cost of books.
Hansen discussed the importance of collecting books for the Children’s Book Project, saying, “This drive is important because access to books should not be a privilege.” “Being able to read is something that is often taken for granted and no child should miss out on an educational opportunity because they do not have the resources,” she added.
Collecting books for the Children’s Book Project is a great way to help out the community and especially young students who would really benefit from reading new books. Bowles spoke about how the students and teachers involved in this organization collected books.
She said, “We put bins in each English classroom as well as a bin near the front office to make sure there were lots of options on where people could donate to make it easy for them to drop off their books. We also tried to put up posters and promote the book drive with videos and announcements to make sure it was well advertised.”
Many people were invested in helping young students get the education they need by making books free.
Jennifer Parker, a teacher at Archbishop Riordan and one of the Book Club moderators, helped the
students facilitate the logistics of the drive.
She said, “We put up many posters around the school, especially around the English classrooms. So far, we have collected a very large amount of books and the turnout for it has been very good this year.”
The book club drive ended after Thanksgiving break. Students, teachers and staff donated more than 100 books.
This Christmas, books like Cat in the Hat, The Giving Tree, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar will arrive under the trees of children in the Bay Area.
As the holiday season rolls around, the club’s generosity is emblematic of Jesus’ teachings as well as the Marianist charisms of Family Spirit and Service, Justice, Peace & the Integrity of Creation.
