A shelf full of books sits alongside the wall in classroom 1310 patiently waiting to be shipped to Ghana into the hands of new students.

“We hope to send high-quality free-reading books for the students at this public high school,” English teacher Daphne Foreman said.

Books for Ghana collects books for Chemu secondary high school which has only 100 books available in the library; it’s hard to have a broad reading experience with such a small selection.

“I like books and i like reading and I feel that students in another country should be able to experience American culture even if its not first hand,” Jessie Shaw ‘17 said.

The team members are students who are helping students like them to experience a new book. In turn, they get to have a small connection with someone from another country.

The books are pre-read by the team members and they give notes or a short summary on what was in the book.

“We write down our opinions on the books” Charlotte Thomas ‘17 said. “And what the book’s about. It’s cool way to interact with the people in ghana even though its not direct”.

The other reason for the books being read beforehand is that the school is very promoting of good values for their students. They believe the books should contain life lessons and real life situations that show good decision making and a lesson learned at the end of the story.

“Ghana is predominantly identified as Christian and promote good morals and life lessons,” Foreman said. “So the books are read beforehand and if not entirely appropriate will be donated elsewhere, but no books are discouraged to be donated”

Books for Ghana is an opportunity to gain experience a new book and help students who don’t have the privilege to choose a book thats new to them. All books donated are greatly appreciated and will be put to use. The deadline for books is May 15th, but new members are always welcome.