◼ The idea of opening a bookstore sprang from a field trip a small group of students take to Blake's Books in McKinleyville each spring. Students, selected for their need of encouragement in reading, are invited to pick out a free book using store credit donated by customers. - Nancy Wheeler/For the Times-Standard
Jones witnessed one of the field trips and cited it as a transformative experience.
”It was magical,” he said. “There was excitement, but also joy as it was explained to the kids that this wasn't like the school library. They would keep their book. I'd never seen eyes open so wide.”
A thought entered his mind that day that slowly wriggled around for several months until he dared to ask: What if the school could give the same experience to every student, and not just once, but several times every year?
”I'm a garage sale fanatic, and have a large home library for my own kids,” he recalled. “I thought, if I'm buying two books out of a box of 30 at a yard sale for my family, what if I just bought the whole box for the school? And kept doing it.”
”There was hesitancy when I pitched the idea to our parent group, but the principal, some teachers and several parents believed in the concept,” Jones said. The idea matured into a system for academic incentives, a system that guarantees every student earns books.
A year later, with a dedicated room and thousands of used books and shelving acquired, the bookstore opened. A grant from the McKinleyville Area Fund purchased the Blockbuster shelves, and the Morris Parent Teacher Organization pays for the books Jones finds.
”We saw many new things when the bookstore opened during lunch recess,” said Deanne Fisher, a playground monitor and early store volunteer. “Boys would walk around with books in their faces, girls reading and hanging upside down on the monkey bars. Boys in small groups showed off their books to each other.”
...Donations to the Morris bookstore can be arranged by contacting mustangbookstore@gmail.com or calling the school at 839-1529.
