When Hurricane Irma ripped through Clay County, the Futch family saw their Middleburg home and all its contents destroyed by a shocking force of nature.

In the storm, Robert Futch, 11, who reads on the 11th grade level, lost all of the books he treasured. So, on Oct. 21 he set out to replace what Irma took away from him by attending the First Book donation event at Green Cove Springs Junior High.

“I wanted to come here because my mother’s house got destroyed in the hurricane and I wanted some books on my reading level. I’m on 11th grade reading level in my school right now and we don’t have many books at my school that are 11th grade reading level,” Futch said.

One of about 1,400 attendees, Futch said he didn’t just run up to the stack of books in the school cafeteria and begin picking. He carefully read the first two pages to see if a book grabbed his attention. He’s usually on the hunt for fantasy books and likes the Percy Jackson series by author Rick Riordan.

“I’m looking for a book that will keep me hooked for a while and not just read a few chapters and then I end up not liking it,” he said.

Coordinated by the Clay County Education Association teachers’ union in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization First Book and the Clay County School District, the event lasted less than two hours, proving a need exists in Clay County.

“We opened our doors up at 9-o-clock and we started with 40,000 books and I would say that within an hour, we probably distributed around 25,000 of those 40,000 books. This line is wrapped completely around the school. This tells me there’s a great need for us to continue to support literacy in this community,” said Addison Davis, superintendent of schools.

The CCEA had applied to First Book during two previous school years and was turned down. However, this school year, there were more Title I schools named in the Clay County School District, proof that there are unmet needs among the student population.

“If you’re someone who’s struggling to put food on the table, pay rent, pay your gas for your car, there’s not a lot of room left over for books. If we can show kids and expose them to books early on, our hope is to make them readers and lovers of books and literature, and as they grow up and grow older, and then they will buy those books and they will become consumers of books,” said Leslie Getzinger, an AFT representative who came from Washington to take part in the giveaway.

Getzinger has attended more than 100 book donation events. She said often children will come to these events and receive the first book they will ever own.

“To see a kids’ face when they can pick out a book is priceless, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been with a child and I tell them, ‘This is your book. You can take this home’ and they’ll say, ‘Really for me’ and it’s sometimes, oftentimes, the very first book they’ve ever owned and it makes a huge difference in the life of a child,” Getzinger said.

In the months planning the donation event, CCEA President Renna Lee Paiva worked with Green Cove Springs Junior High Principal Jen Halter who agreed to host the event at her school because of its central locale.

“I love that the community is able to get books into kids’ hands. Books are expensive, and some family don’t have books in their home, so this is a great cause. It’s unfortunate that this event ran so quickly because we’re running out, but it’s an excellent event and it’s a great partnership between the CCEA union and the district to come together and work together and put it all together,” Halter said.

Paiva said the union is already planning to host another similar book donation event in the spring to provide students greater access to books.

“We’re stunned. We probably had 1,300 to 1,400 people come through here in a matter of an hour and 20 minutes, but that’s how much we need books in Clay County and these people’s homes and these parents have come here and stood in line for hours. Since 6:30 this morning, they’ve been in line,” Paiva said.

Despite the hustle-bustle of the event, at least one Clay County student got what he wanted. Robert Futch said he was grateful the school district hosted the event.

“I think it’s really nice because of the hurricane, it wiped out homes, and I like how they’re giving us books for the rest of the year that can last us through the rest of the year,” Futch said.

“I think books are so important to a culture because it gives people hope. Books help people to see and experience things beyond their everyday life and everyday world and, especially books for kids, where they can see themselves reflected in the characters in the themes and they say, ‘Hey, I could do that. I could be an explorer. I could go half way across the world.’ If they can picture it in their mind, they can do it – it doesn’t matter if they come from a low-income family or a high-income family – if kids can imagine it, they can do it,” Getzinger said.