So Many Books So Little TimeThere is just such a business in Carus Elementary School, seven miles south of Oregon City. The Carus Book Loft is operated by Diana Nartker, a Carus School District resident who turns over profits from the store to the school's Parent, Teacher, Student Association . . . book million online store. Modern fiction, classical literature, textbooks, children's novels, science fiction and western novels are just some of the types of books found among the Book Loft's 11,000 volumes in the book million online store. Books may be bought or traded and book donations are welcome. Nartker said she was motivated to start the store by the desire to keep children reading during the summer. Being from New Zealand where school operates year around, she said she was frustrated by the long absence from learning during summer vacations here. "Long vacations from school are difficult because it has always been a struggle to keep my own (two) children interested in reading throughout the summer. I knew other parents must have the same problem,'' Nartker said. The Book Loft opened in June with a small number of books, which Nartker had bought for less than $20. Then people began to donate books, and Nartker found some books in a school storage room. However, Nartker said, her biggest source of books has been leftovers from public library sales that are donated to the store. "We are doing each other a favor. I haul away their unwanted books, and the Book Loft grows,'' she said. Carus sixth-grade teacher, Ginger Stahl, said several of her students have been able to find books at the Book Loft that they used for extra study at home. She said the store had some old "Guinness Book of World Records'' that her students needed but that the Carus school library did not have. Stahl said she liked the fact that her students could trade books, and that if they did buy one, the cost was usually well under 50 cents. "In my opinion, the Book Loft has been an asset to Carus School and the community,'' Stahl added. "I try to run the Book Loft as a business to provide a steady income for the (Parent, Teacher, Student) association,'' said Nartker. She said the Book Loft contributes about $200 a year to the group. Although the store has not been advertised except in the school newspaper, word-of-mouth advertising is attracting people from nearby communities. |