Carolyn A. Parker, Chair Ethical Action Committee, Ethical Society of Austin

The Ethical Action Committee of the Ethical Society of Austin (ESOA) conducted a book drive leading up to the Society’s Winter Solstice Celebration on December 18, 2016. The book drive was inspired by discussions with members regarding actions and projects to support the Society’s commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4: Quality Education. One concern was that some public school libraries lack materials with ethnic main characters to serve as models and inspiration for middle school students.

The Committee chose to assist Fulmore Middle School with its book drive. Members were encouraged to seek out fiction and non-fiction, used and new books that might meet this need. The Committee, led by Quality Education Team members Susan Thiess and Hans Maverick, collected 17 books that reflected a variety of cultures, nationalities, and ethnic groups living in the United States. ESOA affixed bookplates indicating the Society as the source and support of SDG#4 as the purpose of the donation. The books were presented to Lucy Figueroa, a teacher at Fulmore Middle School and ESOA member, to be used as needed in the school library or individual classrooms.

Books Donated:
• A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park
• Night Flying Woman: An Ojibwe Narrative, Ignatia Broker
• Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper
• Weedflower, Cynthia Kadohata
• Tested: How Twelve Wrongly Imprisons Men Held Onto Hope, Peyton Budd in collaboration
with Dorothy Budd (donated by Christopher Scott)
• Keeper of the Female Medicine Bundle, Biography of Wihopa
• Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolpho Anaya
• Land of the Spotted Eagle, Luther Standing Bear
• Does My Head Look Big in This? Rena Abdel-Fattah
• The Rock & The River, Kekla Magoon
• Elijah Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Kira-Kira, Cynthia Kadohata
• March, Book One, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
• March, Book Two, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
• March, Book Three, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
• Inside Out & Back Again, Thankha Lai