News From Darien Book Aid Plan, Inc.
News from
DARIEN BOOK AID PLAN, Inc.
1926 Post Road Darien, Connecticut 06820 USA
Spring, 2009
Our lobby is always
Celebrating World Book Day in
open for book donations.
You can also stop in dur-
Paraguay with Book Aid Shipment
ing our regularly sched-
uled Workshop Hours.
On April 20, Peace Corps Vol-
little extra publicity.”
unteer Rebecca Montero re-
ceived a shipment of books
Darien Book Aid receives
from Darien Book Aid, just in
many requests for Spanish
time for Dia del Libro (World
texts and novels. Our sup-
Book Day) on April 23.
ply is limited, but the recipi-
ents are always grateful for
World Book Day is a yearly
those books we are able to
event organized by UNESCO
send.
to promote reading.
It was
entation to the community.
first celebrated in 1995 and is
Rebecca adds, “Your books
Students, teachers and town
celebrated on April 23 to
have made an excellent ad-
Workshop Hours:
officials were present to re-
honor the deaths of Cervantes
dition to the library and I
ceive the books.
The local
Tuesday: 2:00—4:00
and Shakespeare.
think they are the first set of
television station produced a
Wednesday: 9:30—12:00
new books that they have
segment and it was discussed
Wednesday: 6:00—8:00
The books arrived in Car-
received in many years.”
on the local radio show.
Thursday: 9:30—12:00
pegua, Paraguay just in time to
Saturday: 10:00—12:00
be introduced in a public pres-
In her letter, Rebecca writes
“The
librarians
were
very
excited
about
the
school
Have Questions?
books that were sent as well
Contact us:
as the novels.
Como Aqua
(203) 655-2777
para Chcolate (“Like Water
http://dba.darien.org
for Chocolate”) was the only
one from that shipment that I
had read, so I gave that one a
Medical Texts Sent to Senegal
In March, Darien Book Aid was con-
accredited affiliate of a New York medi-
ric and Standard First Aid.
Because the
tacted by St Christopher Iba Mar
cal school. One of the many steps in this
university had funds to pay all shipping
Diop College of Medicine in Dakar,
process is to establish an accredited
costs, we were able to send 8 boxes of
Senegal. The school was looking for
medical library.
books weighing 283 pounds to St Christo-
medical texts for its library.
pher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine.
Thanks in large part to the McGraw-Hill
The medical school was built by the
donations program, Darien Book Aid
African American Islamic Institute,
was able to supply the school with books
an international humanitarian NGO,
such as the Essential of Human Anat-
in cooperation with several other
omy and Physiology, Human Reproduc-
international organizations. The col-
tive Biology, Atlas of Skeletal Muscles,
lege’s current goal is to become an
and Basic Neurology, as well as Pediat-
Join us for our Annual Luncheon and Meeting on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 12 noon.
Call us for more details.
Our volunteers are trying to help keep the world
green! We use biodegradable packing materials in our
book shipments. Cardboard egg cartons make a great
packing filler. We roll up National Geographic to fill
spaces too small for books. We reuse paper packing
that comes in donations of new books from publish-
Volunteers recently unpacked a large ship-
ment of children’s paperback books from
ers. You can help too. Leave your cardboard egg cartons
McGraw-Hill.
and National Geographics from the last 5 years in our
lobby. Help us protect the environments worldwide
from plastic debris.
From the President
Dear Friends,
Difficult economic times call for new strategies. In December we discovered that low cost international surface
mail is available again. We can now send 30 pounds of books to clients in the developing world for about $45
instead of $83!
Recently we have partnered with agencies that have shipping resources, but no books. Co-operative effort sent
medical texts to Senegal, middle school science to New Guinea and children’s books to primary schools in St.
Kitts and Nevis. At no cost to Darien Book Aid, each program received several hundred pounds of books. That
is a win -win for everyone! Despite these shipping economies, we have still operated in a deficit this year.
We constantly try to craft more effective ways to deliver books to those who need them, but sometimes we are
hit with unexpected costs. One cold day in January the furnace died. Fortunately the pipes didn’t freeze and
we had a new unit and heat within a few days. The bill was modest, but exceeded our maintenance budget for
the year.
We are grateful for your friendship. Your financial support helps people in need of books all over the world.
With thanks and warmest regards,
Joanne Leaman
Joanne Leaman
