In today’s digital age, video games and Netflix dominate the majority of our time and have pushed out the desire for books. Yet, having books readily available is critical in sustaining an educated, literate society. Reading for pleasure is rapidly becoming a thing of the past for younger generations, as data from the National Literacy Trust annual survey revealed a decline in both children reading daily, as well as children’s enjoyment of reading. In the last three years, the number of eight to eighteen-year-olds reading for pleasure dropped from 58.8% to 52.5% (-6.3%), with only a quarter (25.7%) reading daily, compared with 43% in 2015.

To help those in dire need of reading material, Quartz Hill High School’s Associated Student Body (ASB) coordinated a children’s book drive that ran from September 2nd to September 6th. Books were collected in the morning, lunch, and on Back-to-School Night. With Paige Liegmann, a member of ASB, helping to organize the book drive, the drive helped provide many books to children in need. Liegmann shared the motivation behind the drive, stating, “ASB decided to run this book drive because we wanted to give back to our community and help out children who do not have books readily available to them due to unfortunate factors in their life.” ASB teacher, Stu Manthey, also helped coordinate this event, allowing the book drive to achieve its goal and successfully give back to the community.

Books that were donated were given to Valley Oasis, The Children’s Center of Antelope Valley, and the Salvation Army. Valley Oasis, a charity thrift store, actively works towards helping those in need, specifically victims of domestic violence, whilst accepting donations of all sorts. The Children’s Center of Antelope Valley is a youth social service organization, with many children entering and exiting its doors every day, all in need of engaging reading material. The Salvation Army, an international organization working to transform communities, readily accepts numerous donations in order to provide for the community. All three of these organizations strive to help those in need, and the children’s book drive at Quartz Hill High School further helped to make this a possibility.