When I was a child my second grade teacher told the class that every time we read a book we would go on a new adventure.  She said that authors take readers on magic carpet rides and that we could travel to far away countries both real and make-believe or slay dragons, or meet interesting people and learn about their lives or even solve mysteries.  As a child I loved each and every adventure.  I traveled to Lilliput with Gulliver, went to the arctic with Mr. Poppers, learned to love horses with National Velvet, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and learned about the lives of countless interesting people. My love of reading grew through the years and, today, I start every morning reading at least a part of a novel or interesting book that sits on my nightstand.

As a principal I wanted my students to develop that same love of reading.  I wanted them to get lost in the stories that reside inside of great books.  Many of the students at Limerick elementary had books at home but so many did not.  For many students, the place to find books was in their classroom libraries or in our school library. 

I remembered my childhood.  Hunkering down under the cover with my flashlight there were nights I could not put down my book.  I often finished a book in 2 days. With over 1000 students at Limerick most students got to visit the school library about every 14 days.  This limited their ability to exchange books and read…read…read!

One day a young boy and his mother called and said they wanted to donate books to the children at Limerick.  Brandon and some of his friends would run a book drive and with the help of his mom, Robin, would bring the books to our school.  Robin said we could give the books to the children, put them in classrooms, or use them however we felt would best benefit the students.  I was thrilled.  The thought of getting 50 new or slightly used books seemed great and I knew the teachers and children would be very happy to accept this wonderful donation.

Imagine our surprise when over 1000 books arrived at our school!  I immediately called our custodian, Mr. Henry and asked him to set up tables in the auditorium.  Teachers were amazed at the generosity of Brandon and his classmates.  The children were thrilled with their new classroom libraries.  That day, Brandon, his classmates, and their families not only touched the lives of over 1000 children, 63 teachers, and one principal but gave a gift that reached countless children and their families over many, many years.

It is the holiday time.  I just read an article that asked us to think about ways to help the less fortunate during this holiday season.  I can’t think of a better way than to give the gift of a book to a child.  Help that student travel that world through a great book.  Introduce him to great role models.  Let him get lost in a wild adventure or capture his curious nature with a great book about science.  Give students access to interesting novels of every genre. 

BookEnds serves a great need in our community.  I am grateful to have been the principal of the very first BookEnds recipient school. Brandon and Robin, thank you.  Let’s all be sure to support this wonderful organization through our donations, volunteer actions, and by getting the word out to others who can be of great support.

Ronni Ephraim
Chief Academic Officer at 2tor Inc.
Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Southern California