COLONIE — “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” So said Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero sometime prior to his death in 43 BC.
It was true more than 2,000 years ago, and still rings true for the some 550 people who live in the tiny Village of Annai in the South American country of Guyana — it had a library, but it didn’t have any books.
A teacher at Sand Creek Middle School, Beverly Hayles, who works with Backpack International, learned of the bookless library and talked to another teacher, Melissa Moskov, about it. The two brought the idea of collecting books to the Student Council and the Blessing of the Books campaign was born.
“They were excited from the start and with their hard work and efforts they got the entire Sand Creek building and the community involved in this project,” Moskov said of the students.
The goal was to collect 5,000 books and on Wednesday, June 22, 12,000 books were loaded on a U-Haul. After making a stop in Hudson to pick up some chairs for the library, the books will be loaded on a barge in New York City to make the three-week trip to Annai. Along with the books were scores of bookmarks, made by Sand Creek Middle School students, and signs from the students in Colonie saying “hi” to those in Annai.
“It was amazing we were able to get so many books collected. It was more than double our goal of 5,000 books. Some people didn’t believe we could do it but we did it,” said Arianna Fowles, a member of the Sand Creek Student Council. “I think it is great that we can help people in need.”
Backpack International is a non-profit organization with the mission of equipping students in need with what they need for academic success. It has helped students in seven countries with backpacks filled with things like school supplies, hygiene products, shots, bicycles and books.
“We went the Village of Annai in the interior of Guyana and they had this beautiful building designated for a library but the only problem was they didn’t have any books,” said Angel Rodriguez, chairman of the BPI Board of Directors. “So we began talking about it and got the idea of collecting books. So we had the vision how do we bring it to pass?
He said Hayles, who is his mother in law and head of the New York Chapter of BPI, brought it to the students at Sand Creek Middle School “and they ran with it.”
“This school not only has impacted this area but they now have a global impact,” he said.
Hayles said she and BPI visited another community in Guyana last year to deliver bicycles so children could get to school and learned of another community that had a library without any books.
Hayles went to Moskov and they in turn brought it to the Student Council.
“This is Blessings of Books and this project started when Mc. Moskov and myself and the Student Council realized they didn’t have a library and we decided to do something about it,” Hayles said.
Over the last few months, the books were collected from students, their families, their families friends and co-workers and countless of others in the community.
“It’s amazing. We had a really fun end of the school year and it’s a great way to send the kids home for the summer, giving them an opportunity to give back,” said Sand Creek Middle School Principal Michael Marohn. “We collected 12,000 books and that is pretty impressive. I am looking forward to finding out how out books go to use in the village.”
The majority of people in Sand Creek, and likely in Colonie as a whole, may have heard of Guyana but safe to say not many have heard of the Village of Annai. And it’s as likely those in Annai have never heard of Colonie. Superintendent Dave Perry said he when he heard about the project, he tried looking at an old globe to find Annai, and then did more research about the tiny village.
“This is just fantastic. It’s a great opportunity for our community to give to another community in another country,” he said. “What greater asset to put books in kids hands and help our kids learn about the world.”
