Kids swap old for 'new'
Mark Paton peruses some of the selection available to students during Ocean Cliff Elementary's inaugural book swap.
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Updated: June 30, 2009 1:26 PM
Ocean Cliff Elementary booked a new tradition last month as the school year came to a close, and organizers hope the environmentally friendly idea will catch on.
At the least, the two-day book swap delighted the school's young charges. Even better, it benefited students at their sister school in Newton, who will receive at least 300 of 3,000-plus books collected for the exchange.
"It was such a great opportunity to reuse, just sort of putting that green spin on things," said Paige Walter, co-chair of the school parent advisory council's charitable donations committee.
The June 11-12 book swap encouraged students to cull their at-home book collection of good-condition tomes they had either outgrown or no longer wanted. For each one brought in, they received a coupon they could use to get a 'new' book at the swap.
Some children really took the concept to heart.
"We had kids coming in with, like, 100 books... bagfuls of books," said Walter. "It was so great... to see them bring in their stuff to share with the other kids."
The Rotary Club of White Rock supported the effort, as did Black Bond Books. The latter donated books and gift certificates that were raffled off at the end of the swap.
Ocean Cliff parents spent a week sorting the cache, then the children had two days to peruse and choose their picks. Anyone with leftover coupons could use them to enter the raffle. Some students chose to donate their extras to other students.
The exercise was an extension of what Walter practices with her youngsters Ben and Maddy at home. There, the children have grown up living the three Rs, including joining their mom on trips to consignment and thrift shops.
"My kids are well-versed on being environmentally friendly," Walter said.
The opportunity to expand that even further into their lives via the book swap was a thrill. Their enthusiasm for it was seen throughout the school population, she said.
"It's something that looks like it's going to become an annual event, which is great," said Walter.
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