367 MTSU PROF LEADS CAMPAIGN TO SEND BOOKS TO LIBRARY WITH NO TITLES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu

Local Visits Jamaican Primary School, Returns Home to Lead Book Drive for Children

(MURFREESBORO)—Thirty boxes packed with 1,500 pounds of donated books are headed to the John Rollins Success Primary School in Montego Bay, Jamaica, as of May 7, thanks to the goodwill and efforts of one MTSU educator.
Dr. William “Bill” Whitehill, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance (HHP), said he learned of the school’s dire need for books earlier this year when he visited a friend in Jamaica and accompanied him to register his nieces for classes.
“While they were doing the registration, I wandered around and came to the library,” Whitehill said. “While there, I learned they had absolutely no books in the library, and that this school has been open only for 18 months.”
Once he returned to the Tennessee, Whitehill made it his mission to collect books for the school’s library, he said, because “it was the morally right thing to do.
“They have a need and we are a land of plenty,” he added. “Therefore, upon my return I started talking to people and the outpouring of help was great. One of the first people I spoke to was (retired educational leadership professor) Dr. Jan Hayes, and within a day, she had two boxes of books for me to take to this school.”
The May 7 shipment of books, whose freight costs was funded from Whitehill’s own pocket, traveled from Murfreesboro to Ft. Lauderdale. From there, an organization known as Food For The Poor (www.foodforthepoor.com), a 25-year-old corporation whose mission is to improve the health, economic, social and spiritual conditions of impoverished people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, transported the books, free of charge, to Jamaica, and will deliver them directly to the primary school.
In addition to book donations from Whitehill and Hayes, the upcoming shipment also will included titles collected by Kathy King and Tammy Sanchez, HHP secretaries; Beverly Corlew, an assistant professor in HHP; MTSU doctoral student Michele Dell Pruitt; Jeff Whitwell, textbook manager for Phillips Bookstore; Shirley Luscinski, secretary for MTSU’s Student Athlete Enhancement Center; and Thomas Keith, a teacher at Mitchell-Neilson Elementary in Murfreesboro, among others.
Considered one of two state-of-the-art educational centers in St. James, the school—formerly known as the Success Primary School—recently was renamed the John Rollins Success Primary School in honor of the deceased philanthropist and businessman whose developments played a pivotal role in that country's tourism industry, according to a March 18 article in The Jamaican Observer newspaper.
Whitehill said about 900 students are currently enrolled in the school, which was designed to accommodate 1,050 students and constructed by the Urban Development Corporation on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
Dr. Dianne Bartley, HHP chairwoman, said that when Whitehill first returned from his trip to Jamaica and told her about the bookless library, “Being from the Caribbean, I know such situations exist, even though most of us in the U.S. can’t imagine
a library with no books.”
A native of Trinidad, Bartley said, “The entire health and human performance department, as well as the College of Education and Behavioral Science, including Dean Gloria Bonner, support (Whitehill’s) efforts and we look forward to establishing an ongoing relationship with that school.”
A member of MTSU’s faculty since 1994, Whitehill said the school’s book needs are “anything and everything,” and used as well as new book donations continue to be welcomed and encouraged, including donations from the community at large.
“Anyone can donate any book or educational materials that they have,” he explained, “including those that would be more appropriate for the teaching faculty to utilize and those that would be best for the students.”
Although the donation of a book may seem like a simple gesture, Bartley said those who find time to drop a donation by Room 111 in MTSU’s Murphy Center will make a lasting contribution.
“Giving books and other educational materials may seem like a small contribution overall,” Bartley noted, “but it’s efforts such as these that create lasting benefits when it comes to the children’s education and lifelong learning.”
Whitehill agreed, adding that while his first book donation was about 50 pounds and his May 7 shipment will be about 1,500 pounds, a school’s library and its children can never have too many books or too much learning.
“These efforts to get books and educational materials to the school will be ongoing,” he confirmed, “and I hope escalates to sending technology and other resources to this school. But the bottom line is, they need the help and we have the resources.”
• For more information about donating books or learning materials to the John Rollins Success Primary School via this MTSU-led campaign, please contact the HHP department at 615-898-2811.


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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To schedule an interview with Dr. Whitehill regarding his book drive efforts on behalf of the primary school, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or via e-mail at lrollins@mtsu.edu.