Books4Kids

The Lions Club of Moe Children’s Book Project Books4Kids was born in September 2018 when Lion Rob Sharrock was working as a volunteer at Newborough Primary School assisting Grades 3 and 4 children who were having difficulties with reading and writing.

Robs work at the school involved 30 minute one on one intensive reading sessions with 9 and 10 year old children 3 times per week. The reading program was called Bridges and was designed to assist children with reading and writing difficulties.

Rob noticed that 8 to 10 of the grades 3 and 4 children were involved in the Bridges program, which equated to roughly 35–40% of each class and on speaking to the classroom teachers he realised that the children’s reading difficulties stemmed from not having access to books or being read to at home. Basically, the problem was poverty based illiteracy.

The Books4Kids project was born from this issue. Rob, with the blessing of the membership of the Lions Club of Moe, began collecting children’s books and distributing them to the Primary and Pre schools throughout Latrobe City. As the demand grew, Rob looked for ways to obtain a supply of books from elsewhere and approached the Children’s Book Charity 123Read2me who readily agreed to supply as many books as the project required.

The donated, collected and supplied children’s books are stored, categorised into various age and reading levels and stacked away on shelves ready for delivery at regular book sorting days by members of the Lions Club of Moe. These book sorting days invariably become a social occasion for members with morning/afternoon teas with scones and jam (along with the occasional barbequed sausage) and endless cups of coffee and tea provided throughout the course of the day.

The project has grown in size tremendously since September 2018 with regular deliveries of children’s books to 43 different drop points throughout Latrobe City and parts of BawBaw Shire. The books are then provided free of charge to any and all children to choose from and to take home and keep. At the time of writing the project has rehomed a total in excess of 75,000 children’s books and shows no signs of slowing.