SEATTLE — Librarian Pam Nelson of Pacific Christian Academy in Federal Way was awarded $500 by Goodwill after she turned a storage room into a school library.
When Pacific Christian Academy was limited with its budget, Nelson took it upon herself to make the space for students by building an environment of academic excellence through reading.
She spent her weekends scouring the shelves of Goodwill for used books.
"I began making routine trips to Goodwill," Nelson said. "Each trip takes about two hours, and right now we have over 8,000 books in that library."
Starting with just 1,900 books, Nelson meticulously built up her supply, turning a disused space inside the school into a cozy cove for student readers at an average cost of 43 cents a copy.
Goodwill's annual "Bring Good Home" donation will allow Nelson to purchase up to 1,000 more books for her library, which she has built up to over 8,000 books since 2016.
Nelson also runs the Accelerated Readers Program with about 140 young readers participating and 99% of kids reaching their reading goals.
"They're so enthusiastic about reading," Nelson said.
Now, with funds to help, the fully-functional library will continue to grow.