Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 21, 1993 TAG: 9304220364
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The two dozen women and one man gripped the handles of their paper shopping bags, waiting for the signal to start. When it came, the participants were remarkably civilized.
They walked quickly toward the shelves, but there was no pushing or shoving. Pretty good, considering that what they were getting was free, and that it was something near and dear to the hearts of educators.
On April 16, school librarians and principals from all over Southwest Virginia came to Tanglewood Mall to take away all the books they could carry.
The event was sponsored by the mall and local representatives of World Book Encyclopedias. Liz Rogers and her husband, James, organized similar events when they lived and worked in Tennessee. This winter, they decided to bring the project to Roanoke.
Southwest Virginia residents and businesses were asked to bring new and used books to the mall. The books were inspected, sorted and placed on shelves and vendor's wagons until the day of the giveaway.
Rogers and the other representatives sent letters to hundreds of schools, and local radio and TV stations donated air time to promote the event.
At first, Rogers said, the books came in slowly, but during the last week, "it went crazy." In the end, more than 10,000 volumes were donated. Two thousand of them came from one bookseller alone.
The educators who participated were few, but they came from all parts of Southwest Virginia and from schools large and small and in between. One teacher came back in the afternoon to pick books for a school in Western Samoa.
John Dremel, principal of Sanville Elementary in Henry County, which has an enrollment of 160 students, said the book drive was "a great idea."
"You can always use more books," he said. "I hope to bring some back for the library and for class collections."
"Some of these books are real jewels," said Linda Maxie of Henry Elementary in Franklin County. Because of budget restrictions, when she buys books for the school's 160 students, "I have to stick with what we need," such as non-fiction and reference, and replacements for old books that are falling apart.
But the children "always want more scary books and sports books." Having what they want "gets them really excited about reading."
Augusta Freedman, a librarian with Salem High School, described her school's library as "wonderful. We have one of the best reference collections."
But because Salem's library is in the process of being automated, some of the money usually slated for book purchases has gone into new equipment. The book drive, she said, was "a wonderful opportunity" to pick up something new.
"It's a fairly good selection," she said.
Theresa Cummings of Callaway Elementary, a school with an enrollment of 220, stuffed her shopping bags so full, she had to drag them, rather than carry them.
"A small school is always in need of books," she said, and "it's difficult to keep up a viable collection," especially as prices go up.
Cummings said she told some of her students about they drive, and "they're excited about what I'm going to bring back."
Ann McClain of Ruffner Middle School heard about the event on the radio.
"How could you lose" by coming, she said. Her students like romance novels and "100-page books for book reports," she laughed. "Some of these are great books for middle-schoolers."
Each teacher or librarian came away with 150 to 200 books, and the Salvation Army took "at least twice that many" Rogers said. She estimated the value of the books at around $42,000. After they were through, community agencies were allowed to select the books they wanted, and at the end of the day, the leftovers were given to the Salvation Army for residents at their battered women's shelter.
Lisa Bolling, marketing director for Tanglewood Mall, announced the results of a contest that awarded a set of encyclopedias to three area schools. The winners were determined by votes cast through the mall's "Super Shopper" program.
Cave Spring high, middle and elementary schools made a "clean sweep" of all three categories, she said.
Rogers said she was pleased with the turnout for the event, and with the number of books donated. The project, she said, "is a prototype for a national program" which she hopes will spread to other states.
Next year, she said in her opening remarks, she hopes to collect twice as many books.
by CNB