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More Than a Sale
A new PTG initiative promoted sustainability, literacy and a sense of togetherness
It is said that one should never judge a book by its cover. But it would be difficult to look at the PTG’s (Parent Teacher Group) recent book sale and not come to an immediate conclusion:
tremendous success!
Fall and spring book sales in the FIS Primary (PS) and Elementary Schools (ES) have traditionally been organized by the PTG, but run by third party book vendors. This year, thanks to an initiative from PTG PS Liaisons Emma Olsson and Eva Verheezen-Meiborg, and ES Liaison Christa Houser, the group decided to go with a different approach: soliciting book donations from within the FIS community to sell for commission or donation.
What began as an idea quickly became reality as book donations started pouring in from community members; in all, the group collected more than 2,000 books for the sale. On the surface, what looked like a traditional used book sale, in the end, was something much more. Read on to learn more about the impact of the PTGs Sustainable Book Sale.
Sustainability and Circular Economy
Over the past several years, the PTG has strived to build elements of sustainability into its events and activities. The book sale certainly accomplished this goal in giving second life to cherished titles, cookbooks, graphic novels and more, and creating a circular economy by promoting reuse and recycling of goods and reducing waste. At the end of the sale, more than 1,600 books had found new homes.
Adventurous Literacy
Although one can certainly find good used books if they search, the PTG’s book sale provided faculty and families with an affordable way to access high-quality literature ranging from early reader to adult – right here on campus. The affordability and quality of the books offered meant that people “took risks” by purchasing titles outside of their preferred genre and language. One Primary School parent purchased an entire box of books for his children and another parent wrote, “My children were able to experience the joy of buying books.” In essence, the sale helped further promote literacy and a love of learning within our community.
Cultural Awareness and Inclusion
Just as our hallways and playgrounds are filled with a multitude of different languages, so too was the book sale, which promoted a sense of inclusion by offering books in nearly a dozen different languages, including Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese. This allowed attendees to buy books in their preferred languages, but also highlighted our multilingual community and provided opportunities for readers to be exposed to new languages. One buyer purchased a Percy Jackson book in German and said they might try reading it even though they didn’t speak the language.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
At FIS there are many learning opportunities that take place beyond the classroom and the book sale allowed families to
20 FIS World June 2023