EDITOR'S NOTE: Indigo stores raised enough funds to place 368 books in the library at Seymour Heights elementary and 343 books at Norgate community school. The annual Adopt a School Program ran Sept. 18 through Oct. 9, raising more than 81,000 books to replenish 500 elementary school libraries across Canada.
There’s just one week left in Indigo’s campaign to put a pile of books in two North Vancouver schools.
Norgate Community and Seymour Heights elementaries are each hoping to get a pile of pulp from this year’s Indigo’s Adopt a School Program, which closes Oct. 9.
“Anything like this that’s getting really great books into our libraries is really appreciated,” said North Vancouver school district spokeswoman Deneka Michaud.
Norgate elementary is the recipient of 260 books, more than 200 of which were donated by the Indigo store at Park Royal. Individual donors have chipped in with 57 books.
The majority of Norgate’s 160 students come from low-income families, according to principal Barbara Leigh.
“This means that many of the families don’t have the disposable income to buy their children new books to continuously inspire a love for reading,” Leigh wrote in a statement on Indigo’s website.
While the school’s parent advisory committee does what it can, a lot of the money raised for the school goes to other areas, according to Leigh.
“Many of our books are old and outdated, and with that comes a loss of interest in reading,” she stated.
The school’s library serves as a communal area – it’s where some of the students eat breakfast and others attend after-school programs.
“It would mean a great deal to us at Norgate to be able to continue to build our outdated library with new books and spark a new love for reading among our students,” Leigh wrote.
Seymour Heights elementary has received 219 books so far, including 191 donated from the Indigo store on Marine Drive. With one of the highest percentage of special needs students in the school district, much of the school’s budget goes toward meeting: “the diverse needs of students in the school, which means that very little money ends up being allocated to our library,” wrote principal Chanin Smyth.
“Our library is in rough shape. One of our school initiatives for next year is to beautify the library so that it is a more engaging place for students to come, hang out, learn and read,” she wrote.
The school is in need of more current and relevant books to reinvigorate the students’ love of reading, Smyth stated. Donations can be received in person at any Indigo store or online at adoptaschool.indigo.ca.
