WEB EXCLUSIVE Donation boxes are set up on both campuses for students to donate old books to family centers.

“I donated because I was wanting to get rid of some books I had in my collection and this seemed like a worthy cause,” senior Dena Silver said. “I am really lucky to afford my own books and I have an immense love for reading. If donating books I was going to toss out anyway is going to help encourage more kids to read, why not?”

The book drive is part of an International Baccalaureate Creativity, Activity and Service project run by seniors Matthew Howard, Jack Pirrone and Kate Wing, who were inspired to do the book drive by their love of reading, according to Wing.

“The goal is to just provide access to literature because it is such an important part of development and learning and it’s a great part of childhood,” Wing said. “I’ve always loved books so that’s why I’ve been I’m so passionate about this and I get so excited about it because I like sharing that kind of love with other people.”

The CAS project also aims to support local bookstores who are unable to keep up with corporations like Amazon and are often run out of business, according to CAS project supervisor Paul Pryor-Lorentz

“There’s lots of human rights concerns being raised by how Amazon makes things so convenient for the consumer,” Pryor-Lorentz said. “Imagine a place where you can still go in and browse books and meet people who know things about books, and then be able to take the book home in a way that’s a little bit different from going to a local library. I think we should still find ways to support that.”

The books collected will be donated to San Francisco family centers that otherwise would not have the resources to buy the books. Wing and her partners will also be holding a fundraiser to raise money and buy books from local bookstores to donate to the family centers. 

“The money we would raise from the fundraiser will go to supporting local bookstores,” Wing said. “We would buy books from them and then proceed to add them to our donations, and then give all those books to various philanthropies in the city. That way we are donating to charities and we’re also supporting local businesses in San Francisco”

The book drive speaks to Goal Three of the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools, “Social awareness which impels to action,” according to Pryor-Lorentz.

“In terms of philanthropic groups and foundations, we live in a capital rich city and I think there are a lot of people that have a lot of money And it’s not doing anyone any good by the money just sitting around,” Pryor-Lorentz said. “We have organizations that can put surplus money to good use and help people find ways that they feel conscientious and helps the world in some way I think that that’s all good.”

The book drive will continue into March and April, and donation boxes are located on the third floor of the Flood Mansion as well as the lobby of the Pine/Octavia campus. Any kind of book from picture books to chapter books can be donated.