SIMI VALLEY : Pennies From Students Add Up for Library

The Simi Valley library, which needed pennies from heaven, got pennies from homeroom instead--nearly 40,000 of them kept in a bottled water jug.

On Wednesday, students at Sinaloa Junior High School in Simi Valley presented the pennies to officials of the financially ailing Ventura County Library Services Agency. The money, which weighed more than 100 pounds and included a fair share of silver coins and green bills, will be used to buy children’s books at the county’s branch library in Simi Valley.

The actual amount of money raised during the eight-week campaign--$412.02--was a closely held secret until a school pep rally. Each homeroom had tried to guess the total, with guesses ranging from $287 to $50,000.

But Manny Valencia’s seventh-grade homeroom had the best sense for cents. The class’s winning estimate of $400 was worth certificates for free hamburgers at a local restaurant.

“Sometimes they don’t even have money for lunch, but they were putting in money for the library,” said Valencia, an English teacher.

It took a change sorting machine two hours to count the money, Assistant Principal Bob Rizzardi said. The money will buy about 30 books.

“It doesn’t sound like much, but when you’ve got no book budget, every bit helps,” said Trish Cavanaugh, a spokeswoman for county libraries.

Cavanaugh said Ventura County schools have raised nearly $8,000 for their libraries, bringing in anywhere from $150 to nearly $1,800.

The campaign, called “Libraries Make Cents,” was started in February by frustrated library advocate Linda Kapala.

Marina Real, president of the Sinaloa student body, said she read about Kapala’s campaign and wanted to bring it to Simi Valley. Sinaloa was the only Simi Valley school to participate in the fund-raising drive.