By George Slaughter
Katy-area students are staging a book drive to benefit K-12 students in Nigeria.
The Katy Leo Club’s book drive, working with Great Minds Library, begins July 1 and runs through September 15. Dropoff locations are at the following Morningstar Storage locations:
- 5333 Highway Blvd. in Katy.
- 3506 Greenhouse Road in Houston
- 11950 Will Clayton Parkway in Humble.
Great Minds Library is a 503 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that donates books to public schools in underserved sections of Nigeria. Fiction titles, along with nonfiction titles such as biographies, are being sought. Donations are tax deductible. Financial donations are also welcomed through the Great Minds Library website.
Ngozi Emordi, Great Minds Library president and founder, is an ESL specialist at Harmony School of Innovation in Katy. She said this is the second year for the book drive. She said the drive collected between 2-3,000 books for distribution last year.
Emordi said the idea for a drive came from her growing-up experiences in Nigeria.
“I grew up there,” Emordi said. “My own experience was, I wanted to read so badly but my parents were poor. I could not find books to read, and I wanted more. I started reading my older sister’s notebooks, whatever I could find.”
Libraries in Nigeria were and are few, Emordi said.
“When I left Nigeria, I thought there should be libraries all over the place, but no,” Emordi said.
While soliciting and collecting book donations are both challenging,
The Katy Lions Club sponsors the Leo Club, which is comprised of students ages 12-17. Leos, as they are called, perform community activities similar to Lions Club members. Recently the Leos partnered with the Harris County Emergency Services District to collect food for Katy Christian Ministries.
Nancy Chesbro, the Leo club advisor, said the club was active in literacy programs. She said the club was part of last year’s book drive and has also worked with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in recent years. Chesbro said Emordi’s daughter is also a member of the Leos.
“It’s worked out for everybody,” Chesbro said. “It’s been very successful. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this.”
Emordi said the Leos have been very helpful in staging the book drives.
“Without them, there’s no way we could have gone this far,” Emordi said.
For more information, contact Chesbro at nchesbro@comcast.net or the Great Minds Library at info@greatmindslibrary.org.