On Wednesday, Jan. 7, all students at Oak Grove Elementary School received free, new books courtesy of a local Barnes and Noble bookstore (San Pedro Crossing). Students entered the library on Wednesday morning to find tables covered with books just for them.

"I was so lucky. I got the only book in the series I didn't have," said Jason, a fourth grader at Oak Grove.  

Barnes and Noble selected Oak Grove as one of its Holiday Project Book Drive recipients. Sales representatives invited customers and vendors to participate by donating books and/or money to provide each Oak Grove student with a new book of their very own.

"I never got a free book before, I got a princess book. I love it," said Ashley, Oak Grove first grader.

Debra Castanon, Community Relations Manager for Barnes and Noble at San Pedro Crossing, organized the project and personally brought the entire load of books, totaling more than 400, to the school. According to Oak Grove Librarian Susan Staffier, Castanon attributed the success of the drive to the hard working staff of the bookstore. Many students wrote thank you notes, which will be delivered to the store.

"It was truly a labor of love for our students," said Staffier. "We communicated to the them that loyal Barnes and Noble staff and customers value reading so much that they wanted to share this love of reading with our students."