SKNYPA offers new home for old books
By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PERSONS aiming to make room on their bookshelves now have an outlet to deposit their unwanted books, as the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA) is hosting a Book Drive.
According to the organiser and member of SKNYPA, Shadine Julius, the books collected would be donated to the Charles A. Halbert Public Library.
She said that the initiative is designed to enhance the library’s ability to effectively serve the literary needs of the country.
“The library has to buy a lot of its books and they don’t have the sufficient funds to purchase all the books they would like to. Furthermore, the Head Librarian has stated that about 30 percent of all the books purchased by or donated to the library end up damaged or are held overdue without any apparent intention by the library user to return them in a timely manner,” Julius said.
Julius added that the project would run until January 20, 2009 and upon completion the books would be formally presented to the library.
“SKNYPA is committed to community assistance and volunteerism and the Book Drive is another activity we’ve undertaken to as part of our goal to give back to society.
“So far we’ve received a wide variety of books and we’re pleased with the response we’ve gotten. It’s important for people to donate books they don’t want or don’t mind giving away, because the information and/or pleasure that can be derived from these books will then be passed on to and shared among a whole group of library users,” she stressed.
Julius further stated there would be no restrictions levied upon the books, just that they should be in a reasonably good condition and should not contain any defamatory or discriminatory material. However, she did reveal that the Association was primarily targeting the donation of children’s books.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re rejecting books written for adults. It simply means that we recognise the importance of ensuring the literary needs of our young persons are properly addressed and sufficiently catered to,” she explained.
Collection boxes are in place at Rams, ValuMart, C&C and at Pennies Grocery in Cayon.
Persons interested in learning more about the Book Drive or making direct donations to SKNYPA can contact Julius at 660-4881 or can e-mail the group at sknypa@yahoo.com for clarification or to confirm pick-up details.
