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SYDNEY, N.S. —

As a child Lynne McCarron would often board a bus and travel to her local library to dive headfirst into the books. The book mobile would also bring the joy of reading to her neighbourhood from time-to-time.

Both were experiences bountiful in educational and entertainment opportunities for little or no cost.

Unfortunately, such opportunities to do the same are not always available to kids these days, so the executive director of United Way Cape Breton was very pleased to enrol in a national program that allowed her to put free books in the hands of Cape Breton children.

The First Book Canada initiative works to create equal access to quality education, including brand new books, educational resources and things like winter coats and backpacks.

McCarron and her sister Carrie Ramsey accessed the initiative through a First Book Canada book fair in New Glasgow recently and then brought home more than 800 new books to distribute to local students.

“It’s a drop in the bucket for things that we want to do but why wouldn’t you want to do that,” she said in relation to efforts to move local children out of poverty.

“It builds up steam There’s a real sense of feeling good about getting new books — kids feel excited about getting a new book. It’s not going to change the world but it’s a step in the right direction, I think.”

On display are some of the books donated to Mountainview Elementary school through the First Book Canada initiative. The United Way Cape Breton would like to host one of the book fair’s associated with the program to Cape Breton.

To qualify for the new books a community must have a 70 per cent child poverty rate. While that’s not the rate across the board in Cape Breton, many of the United Way funded programs are assisting participants in that range.

Ramsey’s assistance came through her role as a resource teacher at Mountainview and Sydney River Elementary school.

Essentially, she spoke to teachers at those schools and helped them through the First Book Canada application process, which allows for a specific number of books for each applicant. Together with those teacher applications and submissions from McCarron and Ramsey, more than 800 books were brought back to Cape Breton.

“It’s a drop in the bucket for things that we want to do but why wouldn’t you want to do that.” — Lynne McCarron, executive director, United Way Cape Breton

Some will be shared through United Way funded programs, the Good Food Bus and at the schools whose teachers completed the application process.

“I took home a crate of books that was just French. My board chair who lives in Cheticamp took them there because apparently French books are almost impossible to get.”

The initial rewards for these efforts came in the form of smiles on faces last week as children at Mountainview Elementary helped to unload the crates and crates of books destined for their school.

“It is critical to make every effort to help our local children be ready for school by working with them to develop early literacy and learning skills,” said Paul Mombourquette, principal at Mountainview Elementary.

“We also need to work diligently to continue to encourage reading and work on children’s reading skills, when they enter school, because strong reading skills form the basis for learning in all subjects.”

McCarron hopes to spread the proceeds of this program to more and more local children as soon as next year by hosting a book fair in Cape Breton.

To successfully make that happen, she’ll need local people to go through the First Book Canada application process and to find space large enough to hold and distribute the books.

For more information or to help, contact the United Way Cape Breton offices at 902-562-5226.

First Book Canada