The small Mary Buren Elementary School library will soon have a full section of books about peace and tolerance for students to enjoy forever.
Fifth-grade teacher Jan Sprague and her family came up with the idea to stock the library as part of a yearly commitment to do something for others in memory of her oldest son, Sean, who died in an accident 13 years ago.
“Peace and tolerance starts at the elementary school level and we could all use more of this these days,” Sprague said in a press release.
Sprague, who said the library has not received new books for quite some time, launched a project to bring books about peace and tolerance into the library a little more than a month ago. She has asked friends, families, teachers, and staff members for books on the subject. Sprague promoted the project via Facebook as well.
Responses have been overwhelming, and include donations from across the United States, as well as her friends in Minnesota, and family in Michigan.
“Every trip to the post office has been very exciting,” Sprague said in the release. “It’s kind of a pay-it-forward thing. It just keeps growing.”
The Santa Maria Breakfast Rotary also donated $525 to purchase new books.
The school library recently opened a special section for the books called “Peace and Tolerance.” The section includes written material about Cesar Chavez, Gandhi, and Mother Teresa, as well as books about how children around the world live and what it’s like to attend school in other countries.
For more information about the project, contact the Guadalupe Union School District at 343-2114.
This article appears in Nov 14-21, 2013.