5/12/2009

CHAPMAN — It might have been cheaper if Luray-Lucas third and fourth graders had mailed their contribution to Chapman Elementary School, but Principal Larry Geist wanted something more personal. The students from Russell County instead took 191 books to Chapman Tuesday, and 11 of the 13 students who made the two-hour bus trip handed them over to Librarian Brenda Lemon. The students voted to spend their $200 gift certificate from Scholastic Books — their winnings from a Salina Journal Newspaper in Education contest — on books for Chapman Elementary School. The school’s library “took a direct hit,” Lemon said, in the June 11 tornado that ravaged Chapman schools and much of the town. The Luray-Lucas donation is one of many that has helped restore the library’s collection. “We wouldn’t have a library if it wasn’t for donations,” Lemon said. Tuesday’s presentation was appreciated, she said, and it tugged on her heart. “For them to give up money for books, there’s just something special about that,” Lemon said. Only 1,000 of more than 20,000 titles were saved from the kindergarten through eighth grade library. To date, the library, which will go into the new Chapman Elementary school, has about 15,000 titles.
Read more about the book donation in Wednesday's Salina Journal.