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This semester marks the beginning of the Adopt a High School Library program. This program was first envisioned one-and-a-half years ago by Holly Williams, the general books-publications coordinator at the University Bookstore. She felt it would be a good way to help out the local schools. The College of Education and Human Development is helping them get the program off the ground, according Kay Hyatt.
Schools for the “Adopt a High School Library” program are chosen out of a hat. The school is then contacted and a wish list is sent to the University Bookstore of all the books that the library wants for students.
The Bookstore then finds all the books on the list that they have in the store and puts them on a display table. The books are 25 percent off for anyone buying them for the school library. Sponsors also may donate any of the books if they own them already.
When they are purchased, they are collected at the desk and then delivered to the school at the end of the semester. At that point, a new school is drawn from the hat.
This semester, the school chosen was Hampden Academy. Hampden Academy was founded in 1803 and the academy’s students come from the local communities, including Winterport and Newburgh. As of 2004, it has a total of 787 students and 79 faculty members.
Williams said she is always being offered books that are not on the list people would like to donate. She just calls up the library and asks if they want the other books as well.
The bookstore’s goal for Hampden Academy is at least 20 books from their wish list, according to Williams.
“Hopefully, the program will be expanded after a few semesters, but there hasn’t been much interest yet,” Williams said.
So far, only about four books have been donated, as well as one magazine subscription.
The university-school partnership from which the list of schools are drawn is the Penobscot River Educational Partnership, which helps decide who will benefit from the program, includes many area learning facilities.
UMaine, the United Technologies Center in Bangor, the Maine Child Development Services of Penobscot County, the College of Business, Public Policy and Health, the College of Education and Human Development, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are all members of the partnership.
This partnership was created in 1997 “to collaboratively develop the capacity of member organizations to improve teaching and learning. [It] also provides real-world settings for education majors to do field experiences and student teaching,” Hyatt said.
“Hopefully, the campus community will participate in donating some of these needed and required books,” she said.
