Boaters for Books and BookCrossing
A Perfect Match
by gypsysmomFebruary 28, 2006
Last year Charbono's
Around the World Challenge caught my eye, and I thought sending books to every country in the world sounded like a worthwhile objective. After successfully sending books to BookCrosser thinkbolt in Antigua and Barbuda, I thought it would be easy to send
more books to the Caribbean. I signed up to send books to St. Vincent because I once met a very kind man from there. However, no matter how many BookCrossers in St. Vincent I sent Private Messages, I never got a reply.
What to do? I hate to give up so I started doing net searches combining "St. Vincent" and "books". After several attempts, I found Boaters for Books, a non-profit literacy organization headquartered in Florida. Their aim is to bring the joy of reading to children of the Caribbean. One of the island groups they are involved with is St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Heather Grant, originally from Canada, operates a communication business for yachters on Union Island. As a volunteer, she is working to promote literacy skills on the Island and is heading up the Boaters for Books project.
I emailed Boaters for Books and explained a little about BookCrossing and the Around the World challenge. I told them I would like to send some books to them for SVG if they would like them. Kathy Oberle, the Director of Boaters for Books (a volunteer position), replied right away. One of the things she said clinched my decision to send books to them "Thank you so much for thinking about these wonderful children. . they are the future of democracy in the Caribbean . . if they can read and think for themselves."
I pulled together a box of children's books from some I had from my childhood, some books that were surplused by my library and some from other BookCrossers. I added in some school supplies to fill the box "to the gills" as Kathy instructed.
Today I got a very nice letter from Kathy thanking me for my books and saying they left for the Caribbean in the first week of February. It's a great feeling to think that books that were languishing on shelves in Canada will soon be read on an island in the Caribbean. I really don't care if they are ever journalled although that would be a true "WooHoo" moment.
Boaters for Books also has projects in Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. Charbono's 2006 Around the World Challenge has no-one signed up for these countries yet. Wouldn't it be great if BookCrossers working with Boaters for Books got lots of children's books to these countries?
What to do? I hate to give up so I started doing net searches combining "St. Vincent" and "books". After several attempts, I found Boaters for Books, a non-profit literacy organization headquartered in Florida. Their aim is to bring the joy of reading to children of the Caribbean. One of the island groups they are involved with is St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Heather Grant, originally from Canada, operates a communication business for yachters on Union Island. As a volunteer, she is working to promote literacy skills on the Island and is heading up the Boaters for Books project.
I emailed Boaters for Books and explained a little about BookCrossing and the Around the World challenge. I told them I would like to send some books to them for SVG if they would like them. Kathy Oberle, the Director of Boaters for Books (a volunteer position), replied right away. One of the things she said clinched my decision to send books to them "Thank you so much for thinking about these wonderful children. . they are the future of democracy in the Caribbean . . if they can read and think for themselves."
I pulled together a box of children's books from some I had from my childhood, some books that were surplused by my library and some from other BookCrossers. I added in some school supplies to fill the box "to the gills" as Kathy instructed.
Today I got a very nice letter from Kathy thanking me for my books and saying they left for the Caribbean in the first week of February. It's a great feeling to think that books that were languishing on shelves in Canada will soon be read on an island in the Caribbean. I really don't care if they are ever journalled although that would be a true "WooHoo" moment.
Boaters for Books also has projects in Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. Charbono's 2006 Around the World Challenge has no-one signed up for these countries yet. Wouldn't it be great if BookCrossers working with Boaters for Books got lots of children's books to these countries?
