BEAT Book Giveaway

Recently, Max E and I decided to organize BEAT’s' annual book fair, where old books from the Brentwood library are placed on tables in the lobby of the Arts Building for students and staff to take. The leftover books are given to organizations in the local community.

The project was a massive success, and as Whittall House Captain Bern M, quipped “It’s a convenient way to get access to books and encourage people to read”. 

We brought around 30 boxes of books to the Arts Building from storage in the Woodward and laid them out on tables in the lobby. The BEAT Book Giveaway ran for five days and by the end, around 90% of the books had been taken by students and staff. We then packed the remaining books up and Mr Ganley brought them to Bucknucks Books - a gem of a local used bookstore - and gave some away to neighbours.  

Mr. Collis, one of Brentwood’s legendary English teachers, shared: “Like many others, I am happiest with books nearby. I don't mean the idea of a book, nor some digital representation of one. I mean the physical, palpable thing. The BEAT book fair was a great reminder for many of how much text matters, and a healthy school is one with bookshelves all over it”.      

This book giveaway marked an environmental victory as we prevented these books from rotting in the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington state (where the Cowichan Valley buries its garbage) located more than 700 kilometres away, effectively reducing carbon and methane emissions, and as Elena F eloquently said, “I love free things - especially when they’re books”.

Felix D & Max E, Whittall ‘23