Continued Collaboration Brings the Joy and Excitement of Reading to the Caribbean

Pink Gin Beach, Grenada (July 17, 2017)

For a second consecutive year, the Sandals Foundation and Scholastic Book Fairs, a division of Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, have teamed up to donate 25,000 brand new children’s books that are currently being distributed across the islands of Grenada, Antigua, Nassau, Exuma, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Turks & Caicos.

This initiative is aimed at encouraging reading as the perfect past time for the summer holiday to help prevent the “summer slide”—the learning loss which can occur over the summer months. Therefore, in a continued effort to improve literacy across the Caribbean, the Sandals Foundation is ensuring that schools and libraries within the eight islands where they operate are equipped with newest and most popular titles to keep kids’ minds engaged this summer and prepared for the school year ahead.

The Foundation aims to extend book ownership beyond schools and into the wider communities by providing books to local libraries. This initiative ensures that a larger number of children have access to quality books and the opportunity to discover the power and joy of reading. Here in Grenada books have been given to the students of 32 schools throughout Grenada and 2 libraries: namely the Grenada Community Library and The Beaton Library.

"Providing students with access to engaging books is the best way to ensure that reading becomes a habit at an early age,” said Larry Wissinger, Director of Business Development, Scholastic Book Fairs. “Children who develop a love of reading at an early age grow to become life-long learners with critical attention and comprehension skills which serve them in school, the workplace, and nearly everywhere else for the rest of their lives. The work between Scholastic and the Sandals Foundation creates a lasting legacy of literacy and learning for young readers in the region.”

“These new books will surely whet the reading appetite of our students. We are happy for this contribution and thank Sandals Foundation for their continued support,” Gary Jones, Principal- Blessed Sacrament R.C. School. For its part, the Sandals Foundation is proud to be associated with this initiative as it continues to innovate and engage in opportunities that will lead to the improvement of literacy for all ages in the Caribbean.