Tinian Public Library is also scheduled to receive about 600 books, some of which Kilili delivered himself to Tinian. Books allocated for Rota have been sent through the Rota public schools.
“Summer vacation is here and Joeten-Kiyu Library and Tinian Public Library are going to be seeing a lot more young people coming in looking for books. So, it seems like the perfect time to expand reading opportunities with the delivery of these new books from the Library of Congress,” said Kilili. Most of the books in the delivery are novels and other recreational reading.
“Books can open our minds to new ideas, teach us new skills and new ways of thinking,” Sablan said. “I am committed to supporting libraries as one of the most important of our public facilities.”
Beginning in June, Joeten-Kiyu adjusted its hours to make the library more accessible to more readers. “The library’s Board and the staff are doing a great job of responding to the needs of our community,” Kilili said. “I want to help that effort every way I can.”
A treasure trove of books
Sablan began the library book project last November. In just eight months, he has delivered more than 10,000 books to Northern Marianas libraries.
The books come from the Library of Congress, which often receives multiple copies of books when they are first published. The excess books that the Library does not need for its own collection are made available to members of Congress.
“We have certainly made good use of this congressional resource,” Kilili said. “In fact, I was told about 80 percent of the Library’s surplus books over the last nine months have gone to the Northern Marianas.”
Kilili’s staff combs through the extra books in the library basement, sorting them by reading level and suitability for the various libraries in the Northern Marianas.
Most, so far, have gone to the public school libraries. But Kilili also provided several hundred technical manuals and other useful books to the Northern Marianas Trade Institute; and in May he made a delivery of books for children and younger readers to Angelray Guerrero to help his efforts with encouraging and inspiring children to read by giving those books to charitable organizations that service children and families around the commonwealth.
“Every Public School System school library has gotten a shipment of books,” said Sablan. “Every public school on Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.
“Now we are making these larger shipments to the public libraries that serve more people and a much wider range of ages and interests.”
Sablan said he is sending books to the private schools, as well.
“Then, when every library has received books, we will start at the top of the list and begin all over again.”
Selection process
When Kagman High School student Aaron Tomokane and art teacher Peter Aldan were in Washington in June for the Congressional Arts Competition that Tomokane had won, Sablan asked the two to go to the Library and put together several boxes of art books that would be available for Aldan’s students. “They knew what to look for and what would be useful to the art students at Kagman High.”
But generally, it is Kilili’s congressional staff who make the book selections.
“We have gotten better at matching up the books with the recipients,” said the congressman. “I think Garapan Elementary, our very first shipment, may have received a few calculus text books. But the Public School System librarians talk to each other and I am sure some trading is going on. Or, who knows, maybe there is a very precocious Garapan student who is teaching himself or herself calculus right now as a result of our ‘mistake.’”
As unlikely as that image may be, Sablan says that the connection between a reader and a book is completely unpredictable.
“That’s why it is so important to have well-stocked libraries. Because you never really know which student is going to connect with which book and what the result may be. So you have to increase the odds that the connection will happen by putting lots of books on the shelves,” he said.
Money for libraries
In addition to the on-going surplus book project Kilili has also been successful at obtaining special appropriations of money for libraries and library books in the commonwealth.
“We got a $100,000 earmark for the Public School System to buy books for school libraries in the Fiscal 2010 appropriation cycle,” he said. “The surplus books are great, but it is also critically important to have money to buy the very specific books that fill gaps in the school libraries or that teachers want to have available to assign to students for reading and research,” he pointed out.
Kilili also won an earmarked appropriation of $200,000 for repairs and renovations of Joeten-Kiyu Public Library this year.
“There is moisture coming down through the ceiling in various places,” the congressman said. “The board and the staff gave me a tour in April to see the areas where there is leakage and potential damage to books and other materials. So, I am very glad that we were able to get a substantial grant for Joeten-Kiyu to address that problem and also some security issues and the library’s need for more shelving.”
Sablan intends to continue supporting libraries. He has requested $1.265 million in Fiscal 2011 for continuing improvement of both the JKPL and the Tinian Public Library.
