By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor

Kevin Paleski, a junior in St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel, literally went from knowing next to nothing about the existence of Swaziland one day to wanting to help build a school library and improve student literacy in the African nation the next.

Propelled by a desire to wanting to help others who were less fortunate, Paleski’s taking the initiative to spearhead a book drive in his school resulted in assisting an area library to collect more than 1,000 books to be sent to Mbowana Primary School, Swaziland.

Paleski said that it was through a family friend, Wendy Latona, who is on staff at the Middletown Public Library, that he learned about the library’s participation in the African Book Project, Inc., a not-for-profit organization headquartered in New Orleans, La., that collects used books from schools, universities, libraries and other American institutions for distribution in less-developed countries. The project involves people coming together and sponsoring a particular school in Africa by collecting a minimum of 1,000 books to send to the school. The books are for children up to and including fourth grade, and, if possible, the collection can also include resources for school teachers.

In addition to working on the project with a number of colleagues at the library, Latona, who holds a diversified administration position and is in charge of personnel matters, said she rallied friends of her own children to join in the project, including the Paleski family whom her family has known “for many years as our children had attended St. Leo the Great Grammar School in Lincroft together.”  

Noting that two schools collaborated with the library on the project – St. John Vianney and Village School, Middletown, Latona said that thanks to Paleski’s interest and motivation, St. John Vianney “played an integral part in our collection process,” raising about 600 of the 1,000 books.

Praising Paleski for his communication and coordination skills, Latona said that Paleski “helped us reach our goal” of raising 1,000 books by preparing a radio blog – he runs the school’s radio/news station -- promoting the project every morning for more than four weeks and organizing the logistics such as where the books would be collected and the types of books needed.

“Children in Swaziland now have a diverse collection of books, teacher resources and other genres now. They didn’t even have a library, that is why the African Library Project is so important because it creates libraries for those who do not even know the value of reading, the importance of education,” Latona said.

Paleski extended appreciation to his school community for their participation in the African Library Project and said that “if it wasn’t for the generosity and help of the SJVHS community, this collection would not have been as successful as it was.”

”To know that I myself helped to make a difference in helping to build a library in a small village in Africa is highly rewarding,” Paleski said. “It brings me joy to know that I helped bring joy to those children at the Mbowana Primary School. I would like to thank the SJVHS community for their support and generosity with this collection.”