Last week First Books donated a load of books to David Hoy Elementary.
“We want to share the joy of reading. And we thought this was a beautiful program and we’re happy to be recipients of it,” said Marilyne Gamon, who teachers a grade 4/5 split at David Hoy Elementary, and helped organize the book donation.
First Books is a non-profit organization that partners with publishers to give free books to school children.
“We really like this program because we know it’s really important for kids to have reading material available to them. They need a wide selection of things to read. The more access they have to books the better readers they become,” said Gamon.
First Books is an American company that has been operating in the United States for some time, though this is the first year they have operated in B.C. It’s a program that Gamon has had her eye on for some time.
“I knew about First Books in the states for a number of years and I was watching for it. It’s an organization that has been out there for many years. And I really like their goals, and we, as a school, really like their goals,” said Gamon.
This year First Books Gave away 45,000 books in Richmond alone. Here in Fort St. James they gave 942 books to David Hoy Elementary. It was enough for all primary students to have two and all intermediate students to get three.