Nearly 300 cases of children’s storybooks, non-fiction, readers, teaching materials and reference volumes were shipped out of the Port of West Palm Beach in February. Once again, without the support of Tropical Shipping none of this would be possible. Two thirds of those books were earmarked for the Hurricane Ivan ravaged country of Grenada in the West Indies. Grenada lost dozens of classrooms, and thousands of books, when Ivan bore down on the island in 2004. These books are being sorted and distributed to needy schools, libraries and community centers by the Honorable Senator Emmalin Pierre, Minister of Youth Affairs and by Lillian Sylvester, Director of Libraries. Emmalin Pierre is newly appointed, and is the daughter of the legendary taxi and tour driver Darius, beloved by the cruisers who frequented the south shore of Grenada.

The balance of this shipment was distributed to

• Anguilla, the National Library and particularly the Road Primary School. In Anguilla, we depend upon American/Anguillan Bob Conrich to administer our program and give us the feedback we need to address Anguilla’s special issues.

• Dominica, where the Lion’s Club of Rouseau continues to distribute to the schools we have identified as having special needs. Dominica has been hit with several earthquakes in the past two years; school rebuilding in Portsmouth is ongoing.

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and in particular the high school in Bequia under the direction of Elaine Oliviere, the high school on Union Island, where Heather Grant has forged a new community of reading, and two new secondary schools on the mainland of St. Vincent.

At Rutgers University in New Jersey, we have another 400 plus cases of books and that have been collected through the outstanding efforts of volunteer Jane Young Anglim. These books are being combined with books and computers collected by the Global Literacy Project (www.glp.org), which is based at Rutgers. The resulting 20’ shipping container will be bound shortly for Grenada.

Going forward, Global Literacy Project director Denniston Bonadie tells us that GLP will be working through Boaters for Books in the Caribbean because BFB has the local contacts, the volunteers on the ground in the countries we serve, and that is critical.

Our objective for 2006 is to collect story books, biographies, non fiction adventure and science that will appeal to the pre-teen and teenager who cannot read beyond the fourth grade level. We know those books are out there and we want to appeal to all our friends and volunteers to reach out and find them for us.

Our Caribbean project director Melodye Pompa on S/V Second Millenium is in Carriacou (Grenada) at present, and she is getting a number of suggestions from fellow cruisers. Including Reading for Success books ( www.erigroup.us,) or Ravenscourt Books at the McGraw- Hill/SRA web site. Another suggestion from S/V Tiger Lily is that Scholastic Books out of Richmond, Ontario, Canada. Apparently they have a division that produces story books that cater to the reading challenged middle and high school student.

There is no possible way for us to acknowledge all the hands and hearts that made this past year such a success. I must applaud our “regular” volunteer team. In Florida, sorters and packers Nancy Klaren, Almut Haswell, Edie Smith, Marilyn Conklin, Catherine and Bob Peterson, Sandy McDonald, my dear husband Richard, Colleen and Steve Lumbert (our web masters). In Connecticut, Jane Young Anglim. In the Caribbean, Melodye and John Pompa.

In this year in particular, we must recognize volunteer Mabs Sanok in Port Townsend, Washington, who created a community wide book drive for Grenada. And to Melodye Pompa’s parents, Ernie and Mary Hamer, and their many retired teacher friends and their schools, for an outstanding book drive that resulted in hundreds of books. Our other donors will be recognized in a donor update which we will post in May.

It is amazing to realize, after six years, that we have created a dependable “stream” of literature going into the Caribbean islands. That is because many of the original donors of books continue to send us books, and more donors come onboard each year. A heartfelt thanks to all those who remember Boaters for Books at every garage or library sale. And to those whose generous cash donations help us offset the cost of trucking and shipping these books. Please do not forget us; your donation is tax deductible.

Our mission remains the same. To bring the joy of reading to the children of the Caribbean. To inspire youngsters to read with excitement and develop the critical thinking skills needed in a democratic world.

To be an important source of new and used fiction, non-fiction and resource literature for schools and libraries throughout the Caribbean.

To promote the circulation of children’s literature within each Caribbean community.

To that end, and with your help and donations, we can move forward each year.

Kathy