A book drive intended to help out current teachers ended up doing better than expected, and now the IODE North Bay has a surplus of books that need new homes.
This past weekend, North Bay’s IODE chapter held a book donation where current teachers could come and grab books for their classrooms. At the time, it was intended to provide support for teachers who may be struggling with the new realities of being back to school in a pandemic.
In the weeks leading up to the drive, the IODE was collecting books intended for children from kindergarten to Grade 6. Pat Moulson, Communications Officer for IODE, said that they received double the number of books as they were expecting.
“I’m really proud of the people of North Bay. We had all kinds of people dropping books off at the shop. These were retired teachers, grandmothers, people who were bringing in books that were their favourites as children – and these are precious to people,” Moulson said.
As a result, the IODE is offering books to anyone who will put them to use. Moulson says that at the IODE’s Victory Shop, there are eight boxes of books available, with another six that she’s carrying in the trunk of her car.
During the drive on Saturday, Moulson says that the teachers who came were appreciative of the opportunity to add to their classrooms.
“There was one young man who headed right for our French collection. It was his first year teaching kindergarten at a French school and of course, had very little resources,” Moulson recalled.
But not everyone who came was a current teacher.
Moulson says that they had some Education students from Nipissing University who wanted to begin building up their libraries, as well as daycare organizers who wanted some new material for their kids.
After seeing that there was an interest in the books beyond just teachers, Moulson and the IODE realized that there are also many parents who have turned their homes into classrooms.
“We couldn’t figure out any way to include them, but now we can,” Moulson said.
The books will now be available for anyone to pick up at the Victory Shop during its operating house. Moulson is hoping that all of the books will be given a new home.
“People gave these books in good faith and I really want them to be used. I don’t want them to be trashed,” she said. “I guess I’m old-fashioned, I think books are important. There’s something that you can get by reading a book that you can’t get online.”
The Victory Shop is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, from noon to 3:00 pm.
