Library Logistics

I was on the airplane for 14 hours. Five hours from Addis Ababa to Rome, an hour to refuel in Rome in which we couldn’t leave our seats, and another eight hours from Rome to Toronto. My thoughtful self had booked a window seat for every flight both there and back. My thoughtful self didn’t think to pay attention to what time my planes would be leaving and what part of the day or night I would be staring out of my little triple-paned round-edged windows.

On that 14-hour flight, it was a race against the sun as we tried to make it west faster than its morning light. We succeeded until half an hour before landing, when the wonderful sun finally shed some light on the Canadian countryside below and made me appreciate my miniature window. My first thought when I got a glimpse of North America after three months: Wow, people drive really straight here.

For those of you who have traveled to Africa, or I imagine many places outside the western world, you know what I’m talking about.

Coming back to America has carried a fair share of culture shock. It took a few weeks for my stomach to get used to eating so many different foods again, especially spices and meat. I almost cried the first time I watched television and saw a short story on a tiny ice skating rink 1,000 miles away that was closed because it was too warm. Is that really what we think is important? I want to pull my hair out when I go to the mall, but that’s nothing new. I guess I have always been unpleasantly shocked at American culture, even before leaving it.

Earlier today, one of the missionaries at Noah’s Ark asked me how I coped with the materialistic Christmas season so soon after returning from Uganda. Surprisingly, Christmas was not difficult, but for a very important reason… I have an atypical family.

I won’t even begin to list all the ways in which my family breaks the mold, for better or worse, and I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to divulge all of their—I’m sorry, our—oddities here for everyone to read. But what made us so atypical this Christmas season, and subsequently made Christmas in America easy for me to handle, was that prior to the holiday they decided to forgo gifts to one another and instead donate books and money to the New Horizon library at Noah’s Ark. Yeah, my family is that cool.

Of course, there were the normal “cheaters” and several gifts for the younger cousins. But here is what I walked away with after unwrapping gifts on Christmas Eve: a flash drive, a scratch ticket (from which I think I won ten dollars, but none of us are gamblers enough to know for sure), sixty-four books for the library and $700 to spend on books and shipping.

My family is amazing. But they’re not going to be able to do it alone.

While I was in Uganda, I considered a lot of different ways I could continue to give back to Noah’s Ark even after I left. After spending so many hours in the primary school library helping students learn to read better, God made it clear that my role is to collect enough books back home to start a library for the secondary school as well. To hear more about that decision and what led to it, read this blog from last month.

You can get involved too! Collecting books and money is very general, so here are some guidelines so you know what to be looking for:

WHAT BOOKS TO DONATE:

These books will be used by students ages 12 to 18. (In Uganda, children go to school when their families can afford to send them, so there’s not a standard age for each grade. The secondary school has three grade levels, but the age range can be large.) Because English is not the primary language for most Ugandans, their reading level is lower than what you would expect from an American student of that age. Because of that, books aimed at an American middle school or junior high level would be most appropriate. Here are some suggested titles and series to give you an idea:

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Chomp, Flush, Scat, and Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (those are four different books)

The Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Those are just some ideas… I’m sure you have many more! PLEASE DON’T donate any books that involve witchcraft, as witch doctors are a very real part of Ugandan society and are not something to be taken lightly. Non-fiction books are great too, as well as religious and devotional books geared toward teens.

WHERE TO GET MORE BOOKS:

School and public libraries periodically sort through their books to make room for new ones. Many times the old books end up in surplus and are given away or sold very cheaply. Check with libraries near you to see if they have any books lying around that need a good home.

Goodwill sells books for something like 50 cents. It’s pretty awesome.

It’s always worth it to ask for donations from people selling books on Ebay or Amazon, or to go directly to publishers to see if they can donate anything. The worse you’ll get is a no. I hope.

WHERE TO DONATE:

If you are closer to Wisconsin than Washington, you can bring the books to me at camp or send them here if you won’t be stopping by anytime soon. If you are closer to Washington than Wisconsin, you can bring the books to my parents in Morton and they will get them to me. If you don’t know where either place is (specific addresses, I mean—I hope you all know where Washington and Wisconsin are), email me at katie.schinnell@gmail.com and I will give you the appropriate address.

Thanks so much, everyone! Those teens at New Horizon are sure going to be blessed.