When members of a Longwood student volunteer group learned that many children in the region have very few or no books of their own, they sprang into action.
The group, called Support. Empower. Learn. Fun., or SELF, spent several months raising money and awareness about their initiative, eventually buying 2,000 books and collecting donations of several thousand more, most of which they distributed to students at Prince Edward County Elementary School’s field day in April. About 600 young adult novels were donated to Prince Edward County High School’s library.
“Each student took home four books,” said Alison Roberts ’17, of Glen Allen, an elementary education major and member of the Cormier Honors College. “It was really fulfilling to see the smiles on their faces as they picked out
books they liked.”