Books once headed for shredders and landfills are now getting a second chance in Nome. In late March, eight suitcases full of books arrived at Nome’s Anvil City Science Academy, giving students the chance to find their next great read—completely free.
Bright Lights Book Project, a program based in Palmer and founded five years ago by Alys Culhane, rescues books from being thrown away and get them into the hands of readers across Alaska.
Culhane says the program helps bring fresh ideas and excitement into classrooms. “If you have a community where you’ve just had the same books, then students aren’t as interested. So, we’ve been bringing more books into here to generate more student reading.” Principal Lisa Leeper was happily surprised by how excited students were. “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,” she said.
Seventh grader Piper Lewis had a blast at what she called her first book fair. “I took a lot of books because I thought my siblings would like them,” Piper said with a smile. “And I took a few for me because they’re pretty interesting.”
