LIHU‘E — Kalaheo School teachers and librarians had 287 titles on their wish list to replace books destroyed by last month’s campus fire. Customers at the Lihu‘e Borders Books, Music, Movies & Cafe responded by purchasing 540 titles, said Helaine
LIHU‘E — Kalaheo School teachers and librarians had 287 titles on their wish list to replace books destroyed by last month’s campus fire.
Customers at the Lihu‘e Borders Books, Music, Movies & Cafe responded by purchasing 540 titles, said Helaine Perel, store manager.
“It is the most heartwarming thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. It gives me chicken skin just talking about it.”
Not only did residents and visitors alike respond astonishingly to the KOKUA (Kauai Offering Kalaheo Ultimate Aloha) campaign that gave customers discounts for books purchased to replenish classrooms and the library at Kalaheo School, many visitors also took the school’s address home with them, so they could send books from their own collections, Perel said.
Although there were several titles that could not be replaced, Perel explained that those that were left unaccounted for were either out of print, and to order those would have been too costly a venture.
A special, oversized card accompanied the approximately 10 cartons of books that were readied for delivery to Kalaheo School librarian Margaret Padilla, who yesterday was over-joyed to discover the response to their plight.
These sentiments were penned by book donors, the Borders staff, and other customers who just wanted to express their concern and sympathy over the loss of the historic building at Kalaheo School, and some replaceable and irreplaceable contents.
Additionally, Perel, who explained that the KOKUA project was a unique, Kaua‘i-only promotion, turned over all of the promotional material to Padilla, for use in the library, or elsewhere in the school.
These included the signs as well as a long banner listing those books that were lost in the fire.
Tiffany Woodard, book sales manager, noted that many of the responders were visitors who were more than happy to be able to help the school’s teachers recover some of their resources.
Padilla said that, although school is out for the summer, she wouldn’t have any problems finding enough people to help her unload the cartons at the school.
