I put a note on my Facebook account that my school's library would love your old paperbacks.
I want to expand and explain this.
My school has a good library by Namibian standards.
Our school has a conference hall next door to the library. On days when the conference hall isn't in use (most days), the library can use chairs and tables from the conference hall.
We have a 20-year old set of Encyclopedia Britannica, and slightly newer versions of three other encyclopedias, including one themed specifically to science (It has the Sony Walkman cassette player as the example state-of-the-art portable music). We have many IGSSCE and related text books. We have the most bizarre collection of computer manuals I've ever seen (including two 8-year old Macintosh manuals. this school has never seen a Mac before mine). We have books on health, and learning English and math. And the school has about 200 paperbacks.
Not bad at all.
So why am I asking for donations of books?
Because the learners here (about a quarter of them, anyway) are avarice readers and I want to feed that hunger. The first week that the library was open this term, we loaned almost 150 books. A few weeks in and some learners are on their third book.
The message that I put on FaceBook was that "[my] school library could use your old paperbacks if you can spare the postage." I was careful about the wording. We would love them, they would get read until their bindings split irreparably. But I don't want to mislead you. Don't feel that you are obliged to send something, that without your books we would have nothing.
If you can spare the postage, we would love your old books. Any old books. If you can't decide between sending two thin ones or one fat one, send the thin ones. They'll both get read. If you send us books that are too young for our learners, we'll give them to the primary school across town.
I don't think that there is such a thing as books that are too old for our learners. I have one learner who has a distinct preference for John Grisham over Robin Cook. I have another who just tackled Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale (that's a dark and heavy story). Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is strangely popular.
If you are interested in sending my school a book or ten, we would greatly appreciate it and it will not go to waste.
If your church group wants to send over some storybooks of a Christian nature, they would go well here. I'm not much of a religious person myself, but this country and school system is.
The schools address is:
Stephen Parks c/o
The Library
Ponhofi Secondary School
Postal Bag 506
Ohangwena
Namibia
There is no postal code.
Small packages should clear customs without any problems. Larger packages need to be cleared in advance by me from this end (Namibian customs needs to know that I'm not making money from the contents). In either case, please let me know if anything is coming so I can watch for it (things disappear here).
Thanks
