Webster breaks book collection record

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From left: Webster second graders Nick Reinhold, Bowen Brock and Christopher Smithers pack books. Photo by Dorothy Reinhold

A record 6,230 books were collected by Webster Elementary School students in a recent student-run book drive. This was an all-time record for Webster, which has participated in the book drive for nine years. The drive is done on behalf of BookEnds, the Los Angeles-based program that helps schools in need stock their libraries.

Students from Marcia Nix’s second grade class and Lori Rose’s fourth grade class were responsible for collecting, counting, organizing and packaging all of the books, which were donated by Webster families and friends of the school. It took a whole afternoon for students to sort them in the auditorium and box them up. The Webster classes then took a field trip to deliver the books to Windsor Hills Elementary School in Los Angeles. Because of the size of the collection, some books were also given to Operation School Bell, which serves students who are in need of basic necessities.

“I am so proud of my kids,” Nix, who has been teaching at Webster for 10 years, said in a press release. “They not only did a superb job, but the enthusiasm was palpable-amazing! The kids wrote their reflections of the experience. You know this is a worthwhile endeavor for them when you read what they wrote.”

Second grader Whitney Clarfield wrote, “It feels so special because when we brought the books in, their faces just lit up … I know there are thousands of other schools that don’t have many books.”

BookEnds began in 1998 and since then student volunteers have filled 578 barren libraries throughout the greater Los Angeles area, delivering more than 1.9 million books into the hands of at-risk students.