PRESS RELEASE — Hands Across the Sea, an American-based NGO dedicated to the advancement of child literacy in the Eastern Caribbean, has sent 16,562 new amazing library books to St. Lucia and opened 11 new school libraries across the island.
The schools are: Anse la Raye Primary School, 1,069 books funded by Body Holiday; Augier Combined School, 1,775 books funded by Scotiabank Community Program; Beanefield Comprehensive Secondary School, 324 books funded by Hands Donors; Dugard Combined School, 1,436 books funded by Financial Investment and Consultancy Services, Inc. (FICS); Entrepot Secondary School, 361 books funded by Hands donors; Fond Assau Primary School, 1,391 books funded by DuBoulay Anthony; Fond St. Jacques Primary School, 1,439 books funded by Hands donors; Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre, 823 books funded by Rotary Club St. Lucia and St. James’s Club Morgan Bay; Monchy RC Combined School, 1,326 books funded by Body Holiday; Roblot Combined School, 1,198 books funded by Hands donors; and St. Aloysius RC Boys Primary School, 1,040 books funded by Scotiabank Community Program.
In addition, Hands Across the Sea (www.handsacrossthesea.net) supplied brand new, targeted reading books to Ave Maria Girls Infant School, Ave Maria Girls Primary School, Corinth Secondary School, Dame Pearlette Louisy Primary School, Des Barras Primary School, Vide Bouteille Primary School, and Vieux Fort Primary School.
Hands has also provided Remedial Reading Toolkits (www.handsacrossthesea.net/RemedialReading.htm) to eight Secondary schools: Anse Ger Secondary (funded by the Sandals Foundation), Babonneau Secondary, Ciceron Secondary, Clendon Mason Memorial Secondary, Piaye Secondary, Sir Ira Simmons Secondary (funded by the Sandals Foundation), Stanley Jon Odlum Secondary (funded by the Sandals Foundation), and Vide Bouteille Secondary (funded by Edwards for Education).
“Hands Across the Sea wishes to thank our valued partners in child literacy—the individual and corporate donors who funded new books and supported the work of our Hands Literacy Links, and the companies who rebuilt library spaces to help turn them into vibrant centers of discovery and learning,” said Harriet Linskey, Co-Founder of the organisation. “We also want to commend the efforts of Clara Paul and Khrystal Riviere, our two Hands Literacy Links on St. Lucia. The tireless support of school staff by these programme officers has resulted in more children than ever becoming engaged with books, reading, and their school library.” Together the St. Lucia Literacy Links have trained over 220 children as Student Librarians.
Primary schools in St. Lucia have also received Hands Across the Sea’s groundbreaking 179-page Teachers Resource Guide to the Library (Grades K-3), the just-revised Hands Library Manual for Primary Schools, and the updated Hands Student Librarian Handbook). All resources are free and downloadable from the Hands website (see links below).
Since the organisation’s founding in 2007, Hands Across the Sea has assisted 91 schools, reading programmes, and community libraries, sent 90,435 asked-for books, and given 28,330 St. Lucian children access to quality, appropriate books and literacy support materials. The organisation works in Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. To date, Hands Across the Sea has served 352 schools with over 464,000 books, reaching 103,700 children.