A schoolboy is making it his mission for every young person in his area to have a book to read over the summer holidays. Kane Williams, 12, loves reading so much that he has launched a book drive to collect donations of books to give to young people in Tremorfa, Cardiff.
Kane, whose favourite books are the Harry Potter series, said that he became passionate about making sure all the children in his area had a book to read over the summer after seeing research about the numbers of children without their own books. According to Literacy Trust, More than 380,000 children in the UK don't have a single book of their own.
Year Seven pupil Kane, who is aiming to collect 2,000 books, said: "It's so important for children to have a book to read because it will help them with their speech and language and how to pronounce words properly as well as their writing and their imagination. So, I thought I would try and give every single kid in my area some books."
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Kane's mum Michelle said that Kane had always been interested in collecting books. She recalled: "During Covid, he found out that there's a lot of children out there, especially young children, that don't own a book for themselves. He got really upset about that because as far as he was concerned all children should be able to experience books and not many parents take their children to their local library."
While Kane was unable to collect any books to give to other children during the lockdown periods, he suggested the idea of a book drive to his mother last year, with the two discussing how it would work. After speaking to Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA) about his idea, Kane got their support and a social media campaign was launched.
"We started to get it out their on Twitter and social media that [Kane] wanted to collect books and donate them back into the community to our local schools," Michelle added.
Five schools, including Kane's own, Willows High School, became involved in the campaign. The book drive only started on February 22 and so far more than 1,000 books have already been collected.
"The books started quite rapidly coming in. The total at the moment is 1,563 books," Michelle, 41, said. The deadline to donate books, which can be dropped off at the Tremorfa Community Pantry, is June 29. Michelle added that the books will then be sorted into age appropriate categories and distributed to the schools and the community pantry for those that use it on a weekly basis.
Kane's idea has also reached children's authors who have donated some of their books to the drive, including Irish horror and fantasy author Darren Shan and children's author Glen Blackwell.
"Darren Shan got hold of us and asked if he could put his books on our Amazon wish-list. He ordered books and sent them through to Kane. Then Glen Blackwell asked if he could put his book on our wish-list as well and ordered a copy of his book to send to us," Michelle said.
Books Trust Cymru has also donated books to the drive, including in English, Welsh, and bilingual books. Kane, who also enjoys reading Beast Quest and Horrible Histories, said that he also wanted to thank c and Flourish for supporting his idea. Those who wish to donate to the book drive can drop off donations to Tremorfa Hall on Wednesdays or Thursdays between 10am and 2pm.
Michelle added that the drive is currently looking for donations for books appropriate for secondary school aged children. You can view the Amazon wish-list for the book drive here.
