A "crazy notion" hit upon by a Northland woman has proved not so crazy this week, thanks to the big hearts and
enthusiasm of ordinary New Zealanders.
The "Books Without Borders" campaign, which asks New Zealand children to help donate enough books to fill a forty foot
container to be shipped to Nigeria, is taking off at a rate of knots, as hundreds of cartons of books pile up around the
country. The campaign, which came together over the internet in little more than a week as a result of a passionate
desire by Northland educator Fiona Lovatt-Davis to help improve literacy in Nigeria, is attracting strong interest
everywhere from Southland to Whangarei as teachers encourage their pupils to choose favourite books to donate to the
cause.
Campbells Bay Primary school teacher Sharon Purchase says that she made her pupils realise what a worthy cause it was by
asking them to imagine a world without Hairy McClary, Mog, or Spot the Dog.
"They couldn't imagine a house without a groaning bookcase, let alone a school with no books!" she says. Similar stories
are emerging from around the country, as schools miles from any city, let alone any town, dig deep into their bookcases
to find every last pre-loved book.
A spokesperson for the campaign, Hannah Palmer, says that the organisers are absolutely "gobsmacked" by the response
from teachers, pupils, and even ordinary New Zealanders who have heard about the campaign via word of mouth, or local
newspapers.
"To think that this all started with one woman's idea and has grown to be this massive in this short space of time is
absolutely unbelievable," she says. "And considering that the official challenge to fill the container doesn't begin
until Monday - and we already have over 10,000 books - that is just phenomonal. It just shows you what New Zealanders
are capable of."
The campaign runs from Monday 14th December to Friday 18th of December. Anyone interested in helping should contact
Hannah Palmer at hannahpalmer@lycos.com.