Have a Blind Date with a Book!

Have a Blind Date with a Book!

In the days of fast fashion and instant gratification, the slow book movement is picking up speed at Ivanhoe Grammar School. At this school, students are biting to have a blind date with an old book.

Based on Wurundjeri Country, Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School has been fundraising for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) for over 10 years.

The school has a dedicated Library Club that meets every week to discuss and share their mutual love of literacy. 

They realised that they needed to remove some of the older books from their library if they wanted to get any new ones. 

The Library Club came up with the Blind Date with a Book concept, where students donate a gold coin in exchange for a wrapped-up book. And the outcomes were even better than expected. 

They shared the love of reading with many students, enabled the library to purchase new books for their collection, and raised money for the ILF!

“Books were wrapped up, twined and stickered as part of a display that was in the main entrance of the Senior Library. Signage explained that we were raising money for ILF, information went out in the school newsletter and the Library Club made a video for assembly letting the school know how much money they had fundraised,” explains Aimee Murphey, Senior School Teacher Librarian. 

The event was so popular that the library almost ran out of ‘blind dates’!

“We had to do a bit more ‘weeding’ from our shelves and extend the fundraising for an extra week due to the popularity!” says Aimee. 

Ivanhoe Grammar School is committed to sharing the love of reading, and engaging with the ILF was a great way to remind students of why literacy should be accessible to everyone. Through this fundraiser, the Library Club celebrated reading and raised money and awareness for an issue aligned with their school values. 

Advocating for the ILF was also an opportunity for the Library Club to educate their community about the importance of First Nations peoples’ culture, language and stories. 

“We believe that it’s really important that language and stories are being preserved and that literacy should be accessible for all.” 

The school raised $198.75 for Indigenous literacy, which can purchase around 20 books for remote Communities! Thank you to the Library Club, teachers and entire school community for this great event. 

  • Posted 07 May, 2022


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