One New Bookshelf in Place, Many More to Go!


In our last blog installment, we described the new book giving program being organized by Jeanne Cumby, our intrepid volunteer children’s book giving manager. She has been in contact with a number of area schools determined to have a high need. Our goal is to have free bookshelves in place at each of these 11 locations by the end of the 2017–2018 school year.

As a pilot program, the only thing we know for certain right now is that kids read a lot of books! In order to ensure a successful start for the program, we put out a call for book and book shelf donors to help us fill the need. Last week, one local donor responded to our call.

Sam saw our message about donating gently used books and shelves. He reached out about making a book donation, and mentioned wanting to donate a book shelf, too. To our great surprise and delight, Sam built the shelf from scratch to our specifications—and was able to deliver it directly to the school!

Sam and Jeanne coordinated the delivery last Friday of the brand new bookshelf to Hall Fletcher Elementary in West Asheville. Hall Fletcher Principal Sellinger (left in photo below) welcomed the shelf from Sam (right) and quickly filled it with free books for the children at the school. These free books will now be accessible during school hours for students to browse and take home.

Thank you, Sam, for your very generous donation!

One New Bookshelf in Place, Many More to Go!

How You Can Help

Help us maintain this new program by donating your new or gently used children’s books to POP! POP is always in need of books for children of all ages—from birth through high school. Drop a book in one of our drop boxes around town, or email aPOPproject@gmail.com about donations of a box or more, and we will arrange a pickup with you in town. Books with diverse characters or themes are always appreciated.

You can also help by donating a sturdy bookshelf! Several schools are awaiting a bookshelf before we are able to stock it. If you are downsizing, moving, or just redecorating, consider donating your bookshelf to POP, and we’ll put it to good use. Email us at aPOPproject@gmail.com to arrange a drop off at one of our two storage locations.

Thank you in advance for your help! Together, we can enable a new generation of strong readers.