Two charities reaped the benefits following a cull of over 400 books no longer needed by Eastleigh College’s extensive library.

While the Learning Centre’s online resources have remained remotely accessible to learners throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, during the physical closure the five-strong team conducted the regular stocktake of the collection of over 11,000 book to ensure that resources stayed up to date and relevant.

Jess Munday, Learning Centre manager, explained: “We worked with the college’s curriculum teams and withdrew books that were out of date and have been replaced by newer core text or revised editions. Many had been replaced with online editions, which have been invaluable resources during the current period of remote and blended learning.”

Textbooks and fiction titles were donated to Books2Africa, a charity which increases the quality of education in Africa by collecting and distributing donated books, computers and educational resources to students and schools, primarily in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. 

The rest of the unwanted stock was sold online raising over £300 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, a leading charity which provides education and world-class, life-changing specialised nursing care and support to young people with cancer.

Jess added: “Ordinarily we would have taken the unwanted books to a charity shop, but Covid meant that wasn’t going to happen. Working in a library it’s against our nature to throw books away! The team felt really deflated about having to dispose of them so I thought I would see if I could sell some of them. We really didn't think we would make so much, so it was a nice surprise.”

Photo caption: Learning Centre assistants Jon Green and Kate Clifton-Welker with some of the donated books.