If your media center is in need of books, School Library Exchange might be able to help. The new site, which went live yesterday, is all about connecting cash-strapped libraries with parents, publishers, community groups, and corporations—just about anyone willing to donate to a good cause.
"The goals of the site are to fill school libraries with modern, relevant, exciting titles, to build discussion and debate about books among parents and students, and build school libraries as quiet havens for kids to study and learn away from the digital maelstrom," says California-based co-founder and former TV producer Simon Gornick. "Texting is so passé. Reading real texts in a real library is way cooler."
It took Gornick, the visionary, and Sara Jacobson, the web developer, just six weeks from conception to execution—and they've already signed up two schools: Beverly Hills High School (whose notable alumni include Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, and Nora Ephron) and Beverly Vista Elementary School, where Gornick's daughter is a second grader.
But don't let their locations fool you. Just because the schools share a tony zip code, doesn't mean they don't feel the economic strain. "Beverly Hills might be an exclusive neighborhood, but just like every other school district in California, its libraries have been hit hard by withering budget cuts in education," explains Gornick.
How does the site work? Any public school library is eligible to register for free, and there are no restrictions on any titles or the numbers requested. Since many media centers, such as Beverly Vista, no longer have certified librarians in place, library aides, technicians, PTA members, and even volunteers can sign up on behalf of a library. Once the information is verified, the school's profile, along with its library's custom wish list, is posted, complete with the title, author, publisher, binding type, price, ISBN number, and a link to purchase the book from Amazon, says Gornick, explaining that donors can purchase titles from anywhere or even take them from someone's bookshelf.
Sara Jacobson
Beverly Vista's list of about 20 books includes J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Scholastic, 2009) and Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid (Hyperion, 2010), while Beverly Hills High is requesting about 150 titles, including Lauren Myracle's Bliss (Amulet, 2008) and Christopher Paolini's Brisingr (Knopf, 2008).
A donor picks a user name, password, and leaves his full name and email address. Then all he does is make purchase or donate a book. There's also a social media component that lets members connect or suggest books. "We also want to create discourse about books," says Gornick.
The idea for the website literally popped into the stay-at-home dad's head in late October, while picking up his daughter from the Beverly Vista school library, where she does her homework.
"I'm not one of the greatest readers of all time, but when I saw my kid in her library, it just makes you want to cry. It's such a lovely thing," says Gornick. "Just seeing my seven-year-old daughter quietly working away from the cacophony of school and everyday life was awe-inspiring."
Students from the Beverly Vista Elementary School
While the co-founders are exploring the possibility of becoming a nonprofit organization, they do receive a four to seven percent commission from Amazon for each referral their site makes to the retail site.
Although Gornick and his partner Jacobson have yet to meet face-to-face, they've worked together in the past. "In many ways, she and I are the perfect team," he says. "I'm the wacky ideas guy. She does the important stuff and turns the ideas into working web reality."
While libraries are often called the casualties of the Internet revolution, the opposite should hold true, Gornick says. "I love the web, but one thing it can't do is replace the role of physical 'place' in our lives. As our worlds become ever more distracted, detached and digital, we need a place to go where we can focus, study, learn, or just be. Libraries and their book collections are a wonderful and peaceful gateway to the time, space, and discipline that minds need to develop. And the one group of people who would benefit from that most is our kids."
The ultimate goal is to help school library collections in developing countries. "If we can help re-value school libraries in the eyes of policy makers we'll really have made an important contribution," he adds. "There's something very accessible and human about giving a book to a friend, or a library at your school, or at a school on the other side of the world. Anyone who sees a library book as old fashioned doesn't get it."
This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
What about private schools? I would venture to say that most private schools are just as cash strapped as our public schools. I am a librarian at a small Catholic K-8 school and my entire budget is what I can fundraise at our Scholastic book fair. I'm sure that myself and other librarians at private schools would appreciate being able to sign up with something like this.
Posted by Colleen on March 22, 2011 04:19:23PM
Excellent idea. Freedom to information regardless of economic status is the great equalizer. Keep it up.
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