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BOATERS FOR BOOKS
Tom Stokes' Nevis Book Drive

Thank you to Tom Stokes and Family for their support of Boaters for Books and the Nevis Library. Below is Tom's report detailing his successful book drive in 2003.

In 1987 my dad was writing a book on preserving rural America. He was doing some of his research at the National Trust for Historic Preservation Library (NTL), which is located at the University of Maryland. My mom was then the Head Librarian of the collection. This is how my mom and dad met. A year later my parents were married and enjoying their honeymoon in Nevis. There they visited the Nevis Public Library. A librarian gave them a card, and said that the library would very much appreciate donations to further expand their collection.

I was born in 1990. I am thirteen now, and just completed the 7th grade at Takoma Park Middle School, in Silver Spring Maryland (near Washington, D.C.). Our school district has a community service component to the English curriculum. To complete the service project, students must choose a way to help the community (which can be defined very broadly) and devote a specified amount of time during the spring semester to their volunteer work.

When I asked my mom and dad for ideas for a project, they told me about their visit to the Nevis Public Library. A long time had gone by since their honeymoon, but they thought I might see if the library was still in need of books. My mom contacted the Embassy of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and was given the email address of Ms. Sonita Daniel, the head librarian of the Nevis Library. Ms. Daniel told me that the library was indeed in need of book donations. She sent me a list, outlining the topics and reading levels that would be the best fit for the Nevis Library.

With that information, I prepared a donor cultivation letter, and sent it to 27 family friends and relatives living in the Washington area. I received replies from 20 families that were willing to donate books to this book drive. On the pickup day we had the most snow that Washington had seen since 1922! We rescheduled for the following weekend. During our pickups we had torrential downpours, but were able to keep the books dry.

We sorted the books, and ended up with 400 books that were appropriate to Ms. Daniel's list. Because the Embassy of Saint Kitts and Nevis did not have the funds to support the shipping, we had to find another means of getting the books to Nevis. My parents looked into many organizations, before finding Boaters for Books, using a Google search on "Donate Books Caribbean." We were very excited to learn that the books could be shipped through this wonderful organization. Thanks to Mrs. Oberle's advice on packing, we got book boxes from Barnes & Noble, and sent all 17 of them down to Punta Gorda, Florida, where they now await shipping to Nevis.

I love to read, and have just finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I hope that the library patrons will enjoy the books, and that maybe I can visit the Island some day. I really appreciate the work that Boaters for Books has done to help me with fulfilling my project and to increase literacy in the Caribbean.

Tom Stokes