What is the purpose
of the Books for Gambia project?
Books for Gambia is a book drive that aims to provide
high quality used texts and library books to schools throughout The Gambia,
a small (4,000 square miles) country in West Africa. Most needed
are lightweight books on the middle school reading level. Reference
books (i.e. dictionaries, thesauruses), maps, children’s picture books,
elementary school readers, and magazines are also sought.
How did the Books
for Gambia project get started?
In the summer of 1997, Malvice Jefferson of Bank
Street College in New York City was an adjunct professor in The College
of New Jersey's summer program in Mallorca. She had founded a program called
Books Across Ghana, which collected books in the United States for use
in community libraries in Ghana.
Daphne Hobson of the Office of International Studies
and Dr. Stuart Carroll, assistant professor of Elementary Education at
TCNJ, were inspired by this example. Since TCNJ was sending student teachers
to The American Embassy School of Banjul, in The Gambia, they decided to
start a book drive similar to Dr. Jefferson's. Dr. Carroll and Ms.
Hobson are deeply committed to service learning as a teaching method and
Dr. Carroll decided to do a book drive with his Junior Professional Experience
class and their students at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Trenton.
The students at the Embassy School will receive the books and distribute
them to local Gambian schools.
In January, Dr. Carroll will visit The Gambia to
see the students and the book distribution process first-hand. Two
TCNJ students will be student teaching in The Gambia in the spring 2000
semester and will assist with the logistics of the project.
Dr. Stuart Carroll's Fall 1999 Junior Professional
Experience (JPE) class
Top row: Anna Davis,
Danielle Beckham, John Russell, Rose Oh, Lauren Migliaccio, Lorri Jewett
Middle row: Jennifer
Graham, Mariel Rodriguez, Chrystie Onorato, Samantha Rozycki, Chris White,
Gretchen Casserly, Ganna Maymind, Sari Borack, Christine Bailey
Bottom row: Amy Romanowsky,
Deanne Yachechak, Nikki Renella, Michele Enrico, Michele Nemetz, Megan
Kalamas, Dr. Stuart Carroll
Who was involved
in the Books for Gambia project?
The students in Dr. Stuart Carroll's fall 1999 Junior
Professional Experience (JPE) class helped bring the project to fruition.
These 21 students actively involved eight classes of 1st-4th graders at
Joyce Kilmer School in Trenton in the program. The college students
taught the Trenton elementary school school students about life in The
Gambia through units, lessons, and interactive experiences The goal
was to help the children become more aware of and sensitive to the needs
of the children in this West African country. They wanted the children
to realize the children in The Gambia were very much like themselves.
Mr. Goulding, school principal, and the teachers at Joyce Kilmer were instrumental
in making the program a success.
Students at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School
in Trenton collected books for the project.
John Russell, one of the JPE students, got the North
Hanover School District involved in the project as well, according to Dr.
Carroll. Lisa Howarth, a teacher at Challenger Middle School in North
Hanover, and Bert Stronstorff, a character education instructor in the
school district, involved their students in the collection of books.
Anna Davis, another JPE student, was able to involve students at a school
in Jackson, NJ and secure a large donation of books.
Three sophomore students at TCNJ, Pat Fiduccia,
Melissa Griesemer, and Kelly Hudson, extended the Books for Gambia program
into their Society, Ethics & Technology (SET) course. They created
a PowerPoint presentation about the Books for Gambia program as a technological
design project for SET. It will be utilized in a presentation about
the Books for Gambia program for Joyce Kilmer's Parent-Teacher Association.
What has been the
biggest obstacle this program has faced?
The expense of shipping all the books to The Gambia has been the program's
biggest obstacle, according to Dr. Carroll. Currently the American Embassy
has been helping out by shipping the books from Washington, DC to The Gambia
through the diplomatic pouch, but this cannot go on indefinitely. Shipping
costs to Washington have been covered by the TCNJ Office of International
Studies but when costs increase there will be a need for additional funds.
If you are interested in helping with this, please go to the How
to get involved page to see about donating books or making a monetary
contribution.
Where can I read
more about the Books for Gambia project?
Books for
Gambia From the PDSN (Professional Development School Network) Post,
Nov./Dec. 1999
Donations
sent to Gambia From The Signal, the TCNJ student newspaper, 11-30-99