We collected 1638 books at the NLB Book Drive

Thanks to all who contributed to the Tana River book drive. We collected 1638 books at the NLB book exchange on Saturday 16th April. Special thanks to Dennis Au and his team from RI, Fang Chin and the wonderful folks at the NLB, Julie, Geraldine, Jason & his daughter, Yew Hong & William.

Many thanks also to the folks who dug into their personal collections and organized book collections, we still have hundreds of books yet to be counted and sorted. I believe we’re well on our way to meet our target of 3000 books for the community library to be built and run by Tana River Life Foundation.

I was interviewed by both the Straits Times and Lian He Zao Bao at the book exchange. The foundation was mentioned in both the printed articles. Here they are !

Lian He Zao Bao – Book Exchange 2011

ST Article 18 Apr on NLB Book Exchange

Video Introduction to Tana River Life Foundation

Thanks to the Kong family, we now have a video introduction to the foundation.
Click here to view it.

More Details on TRLF Book Drive 2011

Thanks for your support of Tana River Life Foundation in the past couple of years.

It is that time of the year again to dig into our book collections to help fill the libraries at the schools supported by Tana River Life Foundation in Kenya. This year the books will be filling up the empty libraries at the new nursery & primary school that Gabriel is building and the schools that the foundation supports. As with the previous year, we will be leveraging the annual Book Exchange that the NLB is organizing.

Here’s a few ways you can help us :

1. Set aside books from your collection for contribution to the TRLF libraries directly. To do this, you would need to have books that meet the TRLF collection requirements. Please download this document : Tana River Life Foundation Book Drive 2011 – info to view the types of books needed. You have up to the end of May to hand the books to me.
2. If your books don’t meet the collection requirements ( eg. books not in English, are too old, pulp fiction, romantic novels, cook books etc ) you can take your books down to the nearest library between now and the 15th of April and exchange them for a Book Exchange voucher per book ( please check http://w16.nlb.gov.sg/page/corporate_page_visitus_AllLibraries for the full list of libraries, their addresses and opening hours. ). The library accepts up to 30 books each time. You can then pass the vouchers back to me before the 16th of April.
3. Volunteer to help us ‘shop’ for books during the exchange on Saturday 16th April. We’ll roster volunteers on 4 hour shifts between 8.30am and 6pm, and provide you with the vouchers and a list of our book requirements. You’ll then “shop” through the books available, check-out using the vouchers and bring the books to our collection table. You may have to do this a couple of times during the 4 hour period.
4. Help us collect A4-sized photocopy-paper boxes. This is the best size for packing, storing and transporting the books to Kenya.

Thanks so much

Book Drive 2011

We’re starting the Tana River Book Drive 2011. Do you have books that you’d like to give away ?
 
We’re collecting books for nursery, primary and secondary schools supported by Tana River Life Foundation, http://www.tanariverlifefoundation.org. Like previous years, we’ll be doing it in conjunction with the NLB Book Exchange on 16th April. If your have books that may not be suitable for the Tana River libraries ( eg. non-English books, pulp fiction ) you can take them to the local library between 2 to 15  April from 11.00am to 8.00pm and get a coupon for every book accepted. We’ll be collecting the coupons from you so that we can ‘shop’ for suitable books during the book exchange which will be held at the Plaza of the National Library building on Victoria street from 8.30am to 6.30pm on 16 April.
 
If your books are suitable for the Tana River libraries, please contact me, Iris Tay. We’ll arrange to pickup the books from you.
 
If don’t have books and would still like to help, we welcome contributions of empty boxes which used to hold A4 sized photocopier paper. The books will be packed and transported in these boxes as their small sizes make them easy to pack, transport and store.
 
We’ll have more details in the coming weeks. Watch this space ! Thanks !