Children of all ages will get the benefit of reading during the holidays in Lambton County.
Through the Give-a-Book campaign 3,786 books were collected by Literacy Lambton, which is just one book short of last year's total.
Executive Director Tracy Pound feels they could have collected one or two more books, but she's still excited about the results.
"Given last year blew all records out of the water, the bar was set exceptionally high and given our current economy I'm just so impressed that the community was able to sustain that level," she said.
The books collected will be distributed through 34 partners.
The campaign was supported by funding from private donors and organizations including; the Rotary Club of Sarnia Bluewaterland, the Optimist Club of Sarnia Lakeshore, the Sarnia Elks Lodge 503, ARLANXEO and the I.O.D.E. Errol Egremont chapter.
Pound had set a goal of collecting 3,500 books this year, because she believes it's important for children to receive books around the holidays.
"You're really opening their imagination, the stories could be taking them to different places, different worlds, different experiences," Pound said.
Distribution is well underway, and next year's collection will start as early as the end of August.
"It really is like Santa's workshop. You've got this constant flow of books coming in, and books going out, and different agencies have different timelines," Pound said.
For people who have read their books and want to pass them along, they can be placed in little libraries.
"They're all over our county now," she explained.
Pound added that she is grateful for the community.
"We're always so thrilled by how much our community embraces this program, we know that it's so important that every child in our community experiences the joy of unwrapping a new book at Christmas," she said.
Pound said the campaign has been running for more than three decades.
A full list of the little library locations can be found on Lambton Literacy's Facebook page.
