Thousands of local children will benefit from the gift of reading this holiday season.
Literacy Lambton collected 3,787 books through its Give a Book campaign, thanks to the generosity of the Sarnia-Lambton community.
Executive Director Tracy Pound is thrilled.
"We were able to secure some cash donations from the Rotary Club of Sarnia Bluewaterland, as well as ARLANXEO and some different groups. The IODE of Errol Egremont put together a selection of books and even included the most darling bookmarks that went inside of the books. We even have some agencies like Habitat For Humanity Sarnia-Lambton. They have some great plans in the future to repurpose the books."
Pound said donations were also accepted at The Book Keeper and Coles.
The Sarnia-Lambton Native Friendship Centre takes part in the Give a Book Campaign - From left: Erica Lopez, Akwe:go Children’s Program Coordinator; Executive Director, Donna Smith-Sutherland; Literacy Lambton volunteer, Steve Anema; and Tracy Leblond, program manager. (Photo courtesy of Literacy Lambton via Facebook)
She said there are eight new distribution partners this year for a total of 34.
"I think there's something that's really awesome about getting a book. When you put a book into the hands of a child, it's something that they can keep referring back to and it's the gift that keeps on giving. They can refer back to it over and over again."
Once the books have been read, Pound said they can always be exchanged at one of the Free Little Libraries located around the city.
"There are ones that have popped up as recently as two weeks ago, like the one on Maria Street," she said. "The one on Bright Street actually has gift-wrapped books that we're encouraging people to come by and take. It's like a mystery, because there's a little description on the front page but you can't unwrap it. The one on Maria Street, they've got it all curated with holiday books and they have some bookmarks as well."
This year's initiative surpassed the 2021 total of 3,104.
A full list of Free Little Libraries can be found here
