A tale of one thousand and one books

Parkdale School principal Jacklin Webb said that she’s satisfied with the number of books collected and that she’s looking forward to more. “I’m happy with the initiative and it was great to see all those people working together for this.” She added that in the future they would need to be more specific to ensure that every book they receive can be use by the children, because some people gave books intended for adults or that were in bad condition. “I want to thank the people who donated books and everybody who worked hard during this campaign,” she said in closing.

Pierre-Paul Martin, who works as a special assistant for St. Laurent – Cartierville M.P. Stéphane Dion, was also a major contributor to the success of Parkdale’s book ride. “I think it was a big success considering that it was our first time, but you know there’s always room for improvement,” he mentioned. “Mr. Dion and I were happy to see people working together for our children’s education.”

The St. Laurent CLSC was one of the four spots where people could drop-off their books and according to community worker Catherine Franzidis people liked the idea and were happy to be a part of an initiative that combines recycling and literacy. “I think it was a great example of English-speaking and French-speaking people working together. Unfortunately those kinds of collaborations are too rare and I hope we’ll do it again.”

Finally, St. Laurent News director Serge Delisle said he was glad he was able to help and thought that it was great that so many books were collected.

While not officially part of the book ride, it’s important to note that Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School (ECS) donated more than 700 books to Parkdale School for their library.

(Photo: Martin Alarie)