Book Bonanza: Murray Manor’s Annual Swap Excites Students, Volunteers

Ruth Leiderman’s kindergarten class was sprawled on the multipurpose room floor near lunchtime Wednesday at Murray Manor Elementary School, inspecting their treasure.

Books.

Dozens of books.  Hundreds of books. Hardcover and paperback, colorful and covering every subject, fiction and nonfiction. All carried away in plastic grocery bags by wave after wave of excited children.

Murray Manor this week held its fourth annual book swap—an idea borrowed from other local schools, including Lemon Avenue. Students were told they could bring as many as 20 books from home to swap for 20 at school—arrayed on seven long tables under categories like “Disney” and “Crafts & Hobbies.”

Children who didn’t bring a book from home were allowed to pick one.

Liz Orton was the coordinator, having taken over from Peggy Junker who launched the event.

“The kids are so excited,” said Orton, whose children attend Murray Manor in north La Mesa. “[They say:] ‘I get to keep this? It’s so cool’!”

“Nobody leaves empty-handed,” she said.

Helped by parents Linda Sokolnicki, Michelle Prieto and others—and funded with $250 from the school PTA—the event recycled “gently used” books from home as well as ones stockpiled at school, bought at deep discount from children’s publishers or harvested from the local Friends of the Library and a San Diego operation known as “The Bookman.”

On Wednesday, with two days’ records in the books, Orton estimated that 6,000 books would go out the door.  Six classrooms a day visited the tables.

Books left over after four days are given to local preschools, the Friends of the La Mesa Library or returned to PTA storage at Murray Manor, Orton said.

With fifth-graders staying another year, Orton expects an even bigger turnover in 2012, where she’ll repeat her advice to children: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”