Race to literacy campaign hailed a success

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Sunday Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, May 09, 2010

THE Rotary Race to Literacy Book Drive ended yesterday, with organisers branding the effort a success.

Not only did they help to raise awareness among Jamaicans about the importance of improving the literacy rate among the island's children, they also broke the Guinness Book of World Records' mark for the most books donated over a seven-day period.

"A total of 657,061 books were collected during the historic event, held over seven days at Emancipation Park, Kingston," reported Leisha Wong, public relations officer for the event.

The record was previously held by Rotarians in California, who in a similar drive in 2008 collected 242,624 books.

"The main purpose of the Race to Literacy Book Drive is to help Jamaica's new generation of emergent readers. The project also aims to make the Guinness Book of World Records for the Most Books Donated to Charity in Seven Days," Deika Morrison, the project's chief organiser, said at the launch on May 1.

Yesterday, Wong described the response to the drive -- which was endorsed by the government and the Jamaican National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -- as amazing.

"So amazing was the response that the record of Most Books Donated to Charity in Seven Days was broken on the first day of the event, aimed at raising the literacy rate in the island and in Haiti," she told the Sunday Observer.

Prior to May 1, people were asked to donate books at several points across Jamaica, including branches of Jamaica Money Market Brokers. They could also make cash contributions to the drive through the Bank of Nova Scotia. At the same time, as part of the initiative, telecommunications firm Digicel, through its WiMAX service, provided live streaming of the campaign. This, integrated with Facebook and Twitter, allowed donors from around the world to witness the event and participate in it virtually.

Meanwhile, Wong said that a million-dollar donation from Digicel was used to purchase 16,000 French Creole books, which will be sent to Haiti.

The books collected will be stored at Food for the Poor. The Jamaica Library Service will later take over to select the schools and other institutions that are to benefit.

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Race to literacy campaign hailed a success