Collecting books for the Golden Link College library
- a project of the Adelaide TOS group in Australia and the TOS in New Zealand

When you find a school whose philosophy and practices are based on theosophical principles what do you do? Well, the answer was clear to members of the TOS groups in New Zealand and Australia. They are committed to supporting the school – in this case the Golden Link College in the Philippines.

Learning English is an important part of the school curriculum and building up an adequate collection of inviting, well-written books in English is a challenge to the school. On hearing about this need, the New Zealand TOS came to the rescue. Under the leadership of dynamic member, Maureen Patterson, they began collecting new and used books for the school, eventually filling a massive container that they then shipped to the Philippines.

During the past few years, fundraising for the Golden Link College has been supported by the Kern Foundation in the USA, which has provided grants to match annual donations up to $20,000 (or in one case higher). These donations have been used for the college’s building program.

When it was made known that one entire floor of the new 4-story building being completed in 2010 was to be devoted to the school library, the New Zealand TOS and the Adelaide TOS group in Australia sprang into action. They approached local schools and bookshops for donations of excess or unsold books as well as asking members and friends to donate from their own family book collections or to purchase new books.

In the photographs below, you will see the joy on the Golden Link College students’ faces as they eagerly unpacked their books and carried them up to their new library.

Receiving the donated books

        The well-stocked library at the Golden Link Gollege

Mr Vic Hao Chin, Jnr, President of the TOS in the Philippines which runs the school, shared these observations of the unpacking. “The students were so excited and even the little ones wanted to help in their own small ways. The high school department had no classes on that day, but high school students still came to school to help unload the books. It was like a happy fiesta that morning. We probably now have one of the largest libraries among the schools in our area. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement by gathering these books for us!”

A big thank you goes to Travis James and the Adelaide TOS group in Australia and to Maureen Patterson, Renee Sells and members of the TOS in New Zealand. We hear that Maureen is already collecting for the next container load of books.