Samoan schoolchildren rejoice in the arrival of thousands of books collected by Tauranga's libraries manager Jill Best. Photo / Supplied
Samoan schoolchildren rejoice in the arrival of thousands of books collected by Tauranga's libraries manager Jill Best. Photo / Supplied
More than 300,000 books have been shipped to underprivileged Pacific Island countries, thanks to the huge efforts of Tauranga's city librarian Jill Best.
The latest beneficiaries of her nine-year labour of love have been Vanuatu's cyclone battered schools and Samoa's under-resourced libraries.
"We should all make use of our talentsto make a difference and this is something that I can do," Ms Best told the Bay of Plenty Times. It was the first time the aid had targeted Vanuatu and Samoa, with schools from around New Zealand rallying to help Vanuatu's shattered education system. Used books and school journals boosted the Vanuatu shipment to 14 pallets, totalling 35,000 books.
She saved thousands of dollars on shipping the 20,000-book Samoa consignment by Tauranga-based Earthcube Homes, volunteering to put the books inside one of its homes created from old containers.
The company is part of a global movement among architectural and building professionals to create sustainable and affordable homes that will survive earthquakes and hurricanes and last for generations.
Ms Best paid a big tribute to Random House publishers and Wheeler Books for donating thousands of surplus books, with Auckland-based Wheeler Books stepping in to provide storage for books collected from around the country before they were shipped.
The discovery of toxic mould in Tauranga City Council's Civic Block forced Ms Best to find alternative storage that included books donated from most of New Zealand's public libraries.
Her charitable efforts to boost literacy in under-privileged Pacific countries have until now mostly centred on Fiji and the Solomons.
Mainfreight carried the books free of charge to the collection points, leaving Ms Best to fund the shipping costs, which totalled about $3800 for the Vanuatu consignment. Two Tauranga Rotary clubs helped out with $1500, with some of the money coming out of her own pocket.
