Noble book drive feeds needy minds

Marisa O’Neil

Hundreds of needy children will have new books to read this holiday

season, thanks to a local book drive.

Barnes & Noble at Triangle Square is collecting new children’s

books to donate to Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves, which provides

emergency food and support to those in need. The books will be

delivered to Share Our Selves for distribution to children, from

infants to teenagers, in time for Christmas, said Beverley Davenport,

department manager for the bookstore.

“A lot of these kids are in need for a reason,” Davenport said.

“Oftentimes literature gives kids a wonderful escape and teaches them

a lesson.”

The book drive is part of a nationwide campaign between Barnes &

Noble and Verizon to bring 1 million books to 1 million children,

Davenport said. Locally, they hope to get 400 to 500 books into

children’s hands.

The Triangle Square store chose to donate the books to Share Our

Selves because of its dedication to helping children, Davenport said.

“These are children who need a Christmas this year, and what

better way to do that than with books,” she said.

All the books will be delivered to Share Our Selves by Dec. 23,

she said. They will be distributed through the center’s Children’s

Corner, a dedicated reading room, Share Our Selves executive director

Karen McGlinn said.

Children can sit in the reading room while waiting for their

parents to get food from the center’s pantry, apply for its financial

assistance or see a doctor in the medical clinic. More importantly,

children will be able to take books home to learn to read and

eventually educate themselves about how to care for their own health,

she said.

“Some children don’t get to touch [books] and hold them,” McGlinn

said. “They need to touch and hold them to understand things.”

The bookstore has boxes by the checkout counter for customers to

drop their donations, Davenport said. And for those who don’t know

what book to get, the store has a selection of suggested books by the

cash register, she said.

“A lot of these kids are in need for a reason,” Davenport said.

“They may have trouble in school because of their living situations.

The more we can get them to read, the better.”