LEADER Book Project in Eleuthera

Children on this island in the Bahamas lack the ready availability of books children enjoy in other areas.The Outreach Committee of the LEADER Special Interest Group works to promote availability of books for these children.

Eleuthera is not a rich area. And the island is frequently visited by hurricanes. Thus the libraries and schools face a frequent task of protecting their collections. There is always the potential for a hurricane to take the collections “for a sail.” For example, Hurricane Floyd hit Governor’s Harbor, Eleuthera in the Bahamas, in September 1999. A storm surge destroyed book collections and damaged Haynes Library—a central clearing house for books for schools and community libraries across the island.

“Christmas Books for Eleuthera” has become part of the LEADER Initiative For Eleuthera, (LIFE). The LIFE project invites contributions of language arts texts and children’s literary selections to Haynes Library, our adopted international partner on the out island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The LIFE project has also adopted the “Read All About It” Program of Haynes Library. This program provides a Christmas gift book for each pre and primary school child in Governor’s Harbor, including Government schools, a private Kindergarten, and a private preparatory school. Books provided by LEADER are age/grade appropriate; and students, parents and teachers are encouraged to read the books together. LEADER ships books to Governors Harbor for gift wrapping and delivery to each child for Christmas.

To learn more about how you can help, click here.