| BOOKS AND LITERACY INITIATIVE MISSION STATEMENT The Christ Church Books literacy initiative aims to support the improvement and enhancement of literacy within our community, particularly for underprivileged children, here in Austria and elsewhere in Central Europe. Children are our future. We must nurture their intelligence and enthusiasm for learning! |
|
 Ian Sinclair Begg |
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY This Literacy Project Initiative has been in operation for over 30 years, initially inspired through the wisdom and leadership of Diana Dopheide. Since 2013, Ian Begg has been co-ordinating the Christ Church Books initiative, networking with a wide range of publishers through book fairs, whilst also expanding our outreach to many schools and other educational institutions throughout Central Europe. Books take up a lot of space; space is at a premium. What to do with the existing stock of books no longer required by the publisher? Rather than letting these excellent books go to waste, through pulping or landfill, we have suggested to many publishers around the world, that they send us their surplus unwanted books. From a small acorn a big oak tree has grown over the last 30 years. |
| Our primary resource stems from the generous donations of brand-new books, in English, from many publishers around the world. Around 5 tons of books arrive every year which are sorted by a team volunteers, who organise and categorise for subsequent donations and/or sale to beneficiaries. SCHOOLS INITIATIVE Through the generous contributions from publishers,Christ Church Books has helped a significant number of under-privileged educational and other private and public institutions across Central Europe. In particular, a dual language school library in Slovakia has been established due to the co-operation between our two communities. The Christ Church Books team visits many schools in and around Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary, donating books and educational materials, which augment the educational resources of those schools to enhance the learning capabilities of the children. Many school libraries have their resources supplemented by our new English books; meanwhile we also redistribute unwanted library books between school libraries to cater for particular requirements. Christ Church Books organises regular book fairs at schools, often in conjunction with the PTA, to enable parents and children, librarians, and teachers, to browse and purchase brand new English books at a fraction of their regular price. Proceeds of sales contribute to our supported charities. ANNUAL BOOK SALE Christ Church Books conducts an annual sale featuring brand new English books in conjunction with our annual Advent Bazaar. This sale contributes to the outreach work of Christ Church through whom Christ Church Books conducts its charitable activities. CHURCH LIBRARY Donations of books from our publishers have helped to augment the quality of the religious books in the unique, but rather small, English language library in Christ Church which is a widely used and a most useful resource centre for many English-speaking people in Vienna. CHARITIES We support a significant number of well-known charities, both Christian and secular, and distribute books wherever they are needed. In the past, books have been donated to hospitals, children’s homes, prisons as well as to schools. You can also learn about the charities we support. CHRIST CHURCH SHOP We have the Christ Church Shop in the 3rd District of Vienna which sells a variety of donated articles, including second-hand books and publications, thereby providing a much-needed source of English books. THE ENVIRONMENT Thirty years ago, climate change policy issues were low down the political agendas. Today the G7 discuss these important eco and environmental issues. By rescuing books from being pulped and shredded, and by selling second-hand items in our shop, we are also contributing to the cause of sustainability. BOOK FAIRS Christ Church Books is represented at the following annual Book Fairs: Frankfurt, Bologna and London, which enables us to network with the world’s foremost Publishing Houses. CHALLENGES Storage Space: Books require space for storage which is at a premium in Vienna. We are always seeking new ways to reduce our warehousing expenses. Transport: Moving heavy loads of books across Europe and further afield can be a cumbersome and costly process. Perhaps you may know of some generous transport companies and/or storage companies willing to sponsor our literacy initiative? Thank you for your support. Ian Sinclair Begg |
|
