Young Portsmouth bookworm helps students in Louisiana

I decided I wanted to do a book drive because I like books so much and I wouldn’t be able to imagine a school without books.”

Amelia Riveire

PORTSMOUTH — The thought of children going without books just doesn’t sit well with Amelia Riveire.

So when the third-grader at St. Philomena School learned that a school in Louisiana had lost many books from its collection due to recent flooding, she leapt into action.

“I decided I wanted to do a book drive because I like books so much and I wouldn’t be able to imagine a school without books. So, I wanted to help,” said Amelia.

The little girl with the long red hair met with Principal Brian Cordeiro and Assistant Principal Jeffrey Moniz. 

“Amelia came to us with a couple of ideas right away,” said Mr. Cordeiro. “I asked her to look for schools that might need help. We sat down and she had to convince us that this was a good idea. She did such a good job.”

Amelia then went to work, leading up a school-wide book drive that collected hundreds of volumes to restock a school library in Louisiana, as well as its classroom collections.

During the book drive, St. Philomena School librarian Sonya Capuano also set up a box for gift card donations for the students in Louisiana. According to Amelia, the gift cards could be used to purchase books of the students’ own choosing, as well as “anything on Amazon that they needed.”

After the drive was over, it became apparent there were too many books for just one school, so Amelia decided to have some sent to additional schools in Louisiana.

“We got seven boxes to ship — some small ones and some big ones. The schools said if they got too many, they would give them to the houses of the kids,” Amelia said.

Post All sponsored the shipping, so the school didn’t have to pay for postage. “They did it for free,” said Amelia, adding the books were mailed out Nov. 26.

Always reading

Books mean a lot to Amelia. 

“It means a good story and honestly I’ve never said, ‘I don’t like a story’ before,” she said. “I’m not even a graphic novel person, but I read a graphic novel and I couldn’t even say it was bad. I’ve never said a book is bad.”

As for her favorite books?

“I usually go with long adventure books, but if I had to choose two favorites it would have to be two series: ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Land of Stories,’” she said, referring to the works of J. K. Rowling and Chris Colfer, respectively.

Amelia said she was glad to share her love of reading in such an impactful way.

“It makes me feel good, knowing that I can help just by doing something,” she said.

Mr. Cordeiro said he was proud of the way Amelia rallied the rest of the school community to join together on such a worthy cause.

“One thing that is so impressive about Amelia is that this was her idea,” he said. “She did this all on her own because she felt called to do it, and I love when that happens. It really shows a lot of leadership.”