A growing list of more than 50 civic-minded Bahamian authors has come together to provide 17 public libraries in Eleuthera with new copies of their books. At the time of the presentation, more than 550 books were donated, with additional copies on the way. This whirlwind initiative was spearheaded by local author and publisher Mrs. Teri M. Bethel of BooksByBethel.com, a website that features Bahamian (& West Indian) authors (and residents of the Bahamas) who provide books with family-friendly reading content. The initiative, however, was not limited to their website’s authors. “We were delighted to come across many talented writers in the Bahamas who we did not know before this book drive,” Mrs. Bethel indicated. “While some had already made their books available to several of the libraries around the Bahamas, others embraced the opportunity to join the effort to build, inspire, and entertain the far-reaching communities in Eleuthera.” Mrs. Bethel further indicated that when authors or their families found out about what was being done, they immediately threw their hand in (so to speak) as an act of participating in nation-building.”

When asked about the inspiration behind the gesture, Mrs. Bethel noted that she had read a story in the Eleutheran Newspaper featuring a 6^th-grade student from the Tarpum Bay Primary School. The little girl, De’Anntae Hepburn, had started a virtual reading club to encourage fellow students to read...