Librarian Thanks Helpers Who Made Event A Success

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Editor’s Note: Janna Sharp, Library Media Specialist at the Gravette High School, expresses her thanks to the community and volunteers who made the recent Community Book Giveaway a success. This is her report:

A lot of preparation and volunteer time was necessary to host the recent Community Book Giveaway at GHS. Officer Speedy Estep, Coach Bill Harrelson, Duane Thomas, Teri Finnell, Kelly Britton, Denise Griffith, Roger Sharp, Kyle Coslett and several student volunteers unloaded the two U-Haul trucks full with over 20,000 books.

After the books were delivered, sorting and organizing everything became the main priority. Kelly Britton, Denise Griffith, Susan McPherson, Nancy Johnson, Tawny Janes, Stephanie Parrish, Ruth Poemoceah, Monica Thomason, JoAnn Coquillard, Marilou Edwards, Julie James, Mary Helen Smithers and Tammy Hendren organized and restocked the tables before and during the book giveaway.

Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community members tookadvantage of the free reading materials. Everyone shopped for themselves, friends and family members. The large variety of books allowed everyone to find new reading material.

Teri Finnell, Susan McPherson and many 4-H members did an excellent job assisting with advertising. They posted and delivered flyers to many businesses in Gravette and the surrounding community.

A special thanks to Marvin’s IGA for donating new bags and the high school staff for donating and recycling used plastic bags for students to carry their free books home. A big thank you goes out to Dr. Pat Hastings, JoEllen Hastings, Mr. Duane Thomas and Dr. Andrea Kelly for their overwhelming administrative approval and cooperation. Projects of this magnitude are not possible without great administrative support and encouragement.

“As a Library Media Specialist, my passion is to promote the love of reading. Since one of my goals is to support ‘life long reading’ the community book giveaway provided an opportunity to help meet my personal goal,” Sharp said. She hopes to make the event an annual affair.

News, Pages 6 on 04/21/2010