Staff Reports
Bright Lights Book Project just scored a win for common sense and kids’ brains. Volunteers took hundreds of surplus schoolbooks from the closed Meadow Lakes Elementary and folded them straight into a new “Summer in the Parks” program in Palmer. Instead of letting learning materials gather dust or get tossed, local volunteers handed them out at storytimes and giveaways — where they belong.
Books Saved From the Shredder: Bright Lights, Meadow Lakes, and Summer in the Parks
The Matanuska‑Susitna Borough School District provided roughly 100 boxes of books from Meadow Lakes Elementary and about 85 boxes from Big Lake Elementary. Bright Lights Book Project volunteers immediately added them to Summer in the Parks kits at Bugge Park and A‑Moosement Park and to giveaways at the Palmer Friday Fling. Mat‑Su spokesman John Notestine confirmed the transfer, and Bright Lights Executive Director Alys Culhane called the move “serendipitous” as the nonprofit rushed to get free books into kids’ hands.
Why this matters for Mat‑Su kids and families
This is practical help, plain and simple. Summer reading programs paired with food distribution — the effort is working alongside Kids Kupboard — mean children get both nutrition and a chance to read. Kids Kupboard coordinator Hally Marshall summed it up: the partnership “works hand in hand.” That kind of local cooperation beats bureaucratic shredding any day.
How Bright Lights turns surplus into literacy
Bright Lights is not a fly‑by‑night operation. The group catalogs, cleans, and ships tens of thousands of books each year, including to rural Alaska villages. They plan to keep distributing at the Alaska State Fair and will even convert discarded newspaper boxes into Little Free Libraries. Funders like the Mat‑Su Health Foundation and local civic clubs help keep the wheels turning. In short: volunteers and donors can do what red tape often cannot.
What should come next for Mat‑Su and conservatives who care about children?
First, keep supporting local solutions that actually help families — not hollow gestures from school halls being closed for budget reasons. The district’s closures left usable materials in the hallways; Bright Lights rescued them. Second, push for sensible reuse of shuttered facilities and better fiscal planning so communities don’t keep getting surprised by closures. Finally, chip in where you can. If you care about literacy, show it by supporting groups that get books to kids, not committees that write reports. That’s conservatism in action: local people solving local problems, one free book at a time.
