Alums Donate 1,175 Books to Brookline K-8

When the Brookline K-8 class of 1961 toured the halls of their former school earlier this year, they were disappointed by one of the school’s major assets: the library.

Linda Caputo and her classmates were worried by the sparse bookshelves, and by the news that the school’s librarian is also the librarian at four other schools in the Pittsburgh Public School District, and is only at Brookline K-8 one day a week.

“When we toured the school, we noticed empty bookshelves in the library,” said Caputo, who now lives in Canonsburg. “We thought, ‘Too bad we can’t get them more books.’ So in February, I sent an email out to the classmates asking for donations.”

Last Thursday, the class of 1961, with help from members of the class of 1960, donated 1,175 books to Brookline K-8.

Students from the school met in the cafeteria to carry about a dozen boxes of books up to the library, and several students approached class of 1961 members to thank them.

School librarian Gail Livingstone said she knew the students appreciated the donation.

“We have a book fair where maybe they can buy one or two books, but to have these here for them to read anytime, we just can’t thank [the class of 1961] enough,” she said.

Many books were donated by class members. Large donations were made by the library of St. Patrick’s School in Canonsburg, where Caputo’s granddaughter is a student. More donations came from local public libraries that asked to remain anonymous. The classmates who couldn’t send books sent money instead.

Livingstone, who began working for Pittsburgh Public Schools this year, started a book “wish list” for Brookline K-8 on Amazon.com, hoping to buy new books as her budget allowed.

The class of 1961 bought her the whole wish list.

“Because of budget cuts, Brookline hasn’t had a fulltime librarian and hasn’t had much funding for a new and updated collection,” Livingstone said. “I did have a budget for new books this year, but certainly didn’t have the funds for 1,175 new books.”

Donations came in a mix of new and used books, with many popular titles requested by students arriving as brand new copies. Books on art, science and other topics were included in the boxes that arrived Thursday.

The books donated by class of 1961 members have name plates inside the front cover, indicating the name and other information for the person who made the donation. The name plates were designed by one of the 1961 class members.

“This was not anticipated or expected,” Brookline K-8 principal Valerie Lucas said to class members on Thursday. “There is no way we could have done what you have done, and because you went here too, it’s that much more meaningful.”

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