St. Al’s in final push for new book donations

A Yorkton elementary school is into the final push to reach a goal of having 220 new books donated to its library.

St. Alphonsus School was selected to be part of the book retailer Indigo’s 2016 Adopt-A-School program.

The idea behind the program is for the school and community and local Indigo, Chapters or Coles bookstore to put one new book in the hands of local schools for every student.

Tricia Korczak, St. Alphonsus principal, said it is a big help with the school’s goal of having all their kids reading at or above grade level to have new books beyond what the core funding they get provides.

“New books are always motivating for children,” she said.

The three-week campaign is in its final week. As of press time, the school was halfway there with 110 books donated. The total included books from individuals, organizations and businesses with the biggest donation, 50 books, coming from the Parkland Mall.

On the website www.adoptaschool.indigo.ca, anybody can donate books and leave a note as to why they are supporting the school.

“As a child, we did not have access to any books in old country schools for numerous reasons,” wrote Theresa Heuchert, who also happens to be the librarian at St. Alphonsus. “Nor did we have access to books out of school as we were very poor and lived on a farm. I read my younger brother bedtime stories from my science textbook as we grew up. It was when I attended my first school library, I realized the importance of libraries for everyone. To this day, I am thrilled to work as a Librarian (and earlier as a volunteer) to bring this joy of reading to children, teens and adults.”

Korczak said the St. Alphonus School Community Council was behind the application to be included in the 2016 campaign and they were thrilled to be selected.

“I really want to thank anybody in the community and area who has donated and if anybody else wants to support our school, we would be very grateful,” she said.

“I also want to thank Indigo for supporting our love of reading and our school.”