Thank you to the The Lions’ Club of Dominica for their efforts and sharing this article from The Lion, September 2004.

Text from Lions Magazine Article:

The Dominica Lions Club recently made book donations to four schools in Dominica, an isle located in the southern Caribbean with 73,000 inhabitants. The fiscal crisis in Dominica left many of the primary schools without reading books and a shortage of libraries. The library books that are available are so cherished that librarians rarely let them out of their sight.

The donated books made landfall in Dominica through a partnership with Boaters for Books, an organization based in Florida that collects donated books and then redistributes the books to islands throughout the Caribbean. In all, 81 cartons of children's books, or approximately 3,000 books, were shipped to Dominica. . . .

Local Lions became involved in the project when Lion William Charles answered a boater's call while working as a licensed amateur radio operator. Charles claims he was in the right place at the right time, for the boater wanted to know who they could contact to set-up Boaters for Books in Dominica. Charles responded that his Lions club would love to help, and over the next few weeks the two communicated by ham radio. In a matter of months the details were worked out and books were en route to Dominica.

Tropical Shipping played a large role in shipping the books, as the crates arrived from Florida to the shores of Dominica without freight charges. Tropical Shipping is located in Miami, Florida, and donates space aboard its vessels for transporting the books. Lions were then responsible for meeting the shipment at the harbor and loading all of the crates onto their own trucks.

The books were transported to a small area that Lions built and currently use as their meeting place. All the books had to be sorted before being delivered to the schools, which had to be done within six weeks. Once sorted, club members were ready to accompany the books to the four selected schools. These books would allow the elementary schools to establish a library.

Following the delivery, Lions met with administers to discuss what books and materials worked best. This information was then reported to Boaters for Books so that they could plan accordingly for the next book delivery. Charles has also passed along contact information for other Lions clubs throughout the Caribbean where Boaters for Books has not yet traveled. Every year the program expands by adding more islands.

Lions have maintained contact with Boaters for Books, and plans are in the works for annual shipments. The project was such a success that the club has been flooded with calls from area teachers and other schools on the island hoping to reap the benefits of the next shipment of books.

Top photo: Lions sort 3,000 books for distribution to four area schools. Middle photo: Lions distribute books to school classrooms for the establishment of school libraries. Bottom photo: School children reap the benefits of the Dominica Lions' hard work.