To celebrate the season of giving that’s swiftly approaching, the Coronado High School (CHS) Activism Book Club is encouraging student civic engagement. Now, after months of planning, club officers are ready to bring their Annual Holiday Book Drive back.
Their drive grew from club presidents reflecting on their love of books compared to the lack of literary access some parts of San Diego get. Additionally, there has been decreased performance in regards to language arts in San Diego County schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. Combining these two issues allows the drive to give easier access to books to local lower-income and homeless families with the hopes of improving literacy rates.
Club officers decided to make this drive annual after last year’s end result beat all of the club’s initial expectations. Their insignificant club initiative swiftly turned into a city-wide service project. By the end of December 2022, they’d collected over one thousand books. All the collected books were distributed with the help of local mutual aid, “Feeding Daygo,” at their annual Mutual Aid Mall in December.
This year club officers started planning the drive in September by holding poster-making meetings and corresponding with Coronado Unified School District offices.
The drive officially started on November 27th and will go until December 21st. Throughout the almost month-long time period, donors can find bins in the front offices of Coronado High, Coronado Middle, and Village Elementary schools. Teachers and school board members can drop off their books at the Coronado School District Office bin. While all books are welcomed, the club places an emphasis on children’s books over young-adult genres.
Following the drive’s conclusion, club officers will participate in Feeding Daygo’s Mutual Aid Mall in January 2024. If there’s an additional surplus after the distribution event, it’ll go to local underfunded elementary schools and the San Diego Book Project.
Co-President Hannah Cohen says, “People should donate as we can guarantee these donations are getting to a good home, as we are not only collecting the books, but the Activism Book Club works with organizations like Feeding Daygo to make sure we are the people working the distribution events to get these books into their new homes.”
As Islanders await winter break and the city of Coronado preps for the holidays, everyone can be reminded to give back with this book drive. Who knew a pre-loved copy of Dork Diaries could ignite new literacy skills and love for reading, especially for those who haven’t been as exposed to literature. Everyone can help make this year’s drive the biggest yet by browsing their bookshelves.
For questions regarding donations, the Coronado community can reach out via Instagram, @chsactivismbookclub.
