CHULA VISTA – In an effort to unload roughly 70,000 books from a 2004 book drive, the city will open its warehouse Tuesday to nonprofit groups, teachers and bookworms looking to fill their shelves, Mayor Steve Padilla said.
The story behind Chula Vista's book drive merits its own book.
Padilla launched a citywide “give a book” program in December 2004. The goal was to collect books from elementary school students and donate them to local shelters for abused and needy children.
The drive lasted four weeks and was expected to bring in 1,000 to 5,000 books. The city rewarded participating classes with pizza parties and ice-cream cups. Top-performing classes were thrown parties that featured firetrucks and police cars with sirens blaring, and appearances by Padilla and San Diego Chargers Roman Oben and Ben Leber.
To the surprise and chagrin of the mayor's staff, the drive raised more than 100,000 novels, textbooks, plays, magazines and coloring books. The city struggled to donate books to local hospitals, shelters and even Hurricane Katrina victims, but a majority of the books have sat untouched in a Public Works Department warehouse since 2004.
An article in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Saturday reinvigorated efforts to lighten the load, Padilla and his staff said. Since the story ran, the city has received more than 120 phone calls and e-mails from groups across Southern California suggesting ways to catalog and distribute the books.
“Since the press coverage about the over-success of 'give a book,' we have received numerous calls . . . and we have learned of other needs heretofore we were not aware of,” Padilla said.
Charitable organizations that work in the Philippines, Tonga and Guadalajara, Mexico, have asked to take books and distribute them in those countries.
Navy wives have called to see if they can send books to their husbands, who can read them on videotapes to send back home for their children.
City officials are revisiting the possibility of sending books to Hurricane Katrina victims after receiving referrals and contacts for businesses and charitable groups in Louisiana and Mississippi.
On a local level, teachers from high-poverty local schools, such as Montgomery Elementary, have asked why the city never contacted them.
“You're looking at the victims of Hurricane Katrina,” said Robin Leon, a teacher at Montgomery who spoke before the council Tuesday night. “Why aren't you looking at the victims in Chula Vista?”
Leon said she plans to attend Tuesday's giveaway. The event will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Public Works warehouse, 707 F St.
The book fair is open to nonprofits, which must show proof of their 501c3 status, and teachers who have a letter confirming their employment from school administrators. Interested individuals, particularly from needy families, will be allowed to take up to 10 books.
If the drive leaves many books untouched, the Mayor's Office will host more giveaways. Padilla's staff also will hand out books at the Day of the Child event in Memorial Park on April 22.
As the books retake the spotlight next week, Padilla will be there, flanked by an old firetruck and three unused police cars that are sitting in the warehouse. But there won't be appearances by famous athletes, and no pizza or ice cream will be served.
This time, Padilla said, “it's just books. That's what we'll be serving.”
Shannon McMahon: (619) 498-6634; shannon.mcmahon@uniontrib.com
