Lexington’s literature connection to the world has faced a number of challenges during coronavirus times. The International Book Project has been collecting and distributing books for 55 years. IBP Director Lisa Fryman said people were home with time to sort, and so a large number of books were donated. With no volunteers due to COVID concerns, Fryman said processing was difficult.
She noted much of that has now been accomplished and there remains a need for more donations. “We really need children’s textbooks. You know, like K-12 textbooks, stem subjects, geography, things like that. We don’t really ship American history textbooks overseas,” said Fryman.
Fryman said distribution fell by anywhere from a third to a half during coronavirus times. And she added there was a large need closer to home. “We’ve had huge demand domestically for books, because kids were not in school in the United States. Teachers were struggling to, and libraries were closed. So, teachers were struggling to get books into the hands of kids to keep their reading levels up,” said Fryman.
Fryman said the large containers that go out to countries all around the world hold some 50,000 books. She said there are smaller shipments as well.
