Between classes, kids at the Anvil City Science Academy sifted through rows of books last week. Literature flew off the tables in the tight hallway as seventh grader Piper Lewis delighted in her first book fair.
“I took a lot of books because I thought my siblings would like them, and I took a few for me because they're pretty interesting,” Piper said.
The free, used books are from the Bright Lights Book Project. Palmer’s Alys Culhane started the organization five years ago in an effort to save books from the dumpster.
“It's pretty amazing to me, because I had no idea when I started this, no idea at all that I would be going to Nome, Alaska, and meeting the people,” Culhane said.
Culhane flew to Nome last week with eight suitcases full of books. Most of the books went to the Anvil City Science Academy. The rest went to Pingo Bakery and libraries in Nome.
The books came from a variety of sources like the Mat-Su and Anchorage School Districts, Alaska Native Language Center, and numerous private donors.
Culhane said the program helps inject new stories and ideas into classrooms across the state.
“If you have a community where you've just had the same books, then students aren't as interested,” Culhane said. “So we've been bringing more books into here to generate more student reading.”
ACSA Principal Lisa Leeper said she was pleasantly surprised by how many kids picked up new books.
“I wasn't sure that kids were still interested in hard copy books, but there were kids taking multiple books and asking if they could come back again,” Leeper said.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski visited the Bright Lights headquarters in Palmer last year. Culhane remembered Murkowski telling her, “Alys, you are making a difference.”
