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Goodwill of North Georgia donates thousands of books to Gwinnett County

Goodwill donated 3,000 books to help jump-start the "G.R.E.A.T Little Minds" programs. The tiny libraries will be available across Gwinnett County in 2020.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Goodwill of North Georgia is helping to provide the gift of literacy this holiday season.

The non-profit donated 3,000 books to the Gwinnett Coalition of Health & Human Services' G.R.E.A.T. Little Minds program.

The G.R.E.A.T. Little Minds program is similar to the “Little Free Library” project, which is a national book exchange project.

Gwinnett County businesses and individuals will sponsor these free book exchanges to help increase free access to learning materials for young children and their families.

“Goodwill of North Georgia is thrilled to support such a crucial initiative,” Goodwill of North Georgia President and CEO Keith Parker said.

“Stimulating and strengthening the minds of our youth at an early age makes it that much easier for Goodwill to help people not only find a job but a better job and then a career. G.R.E.A.T. Little Minds is preparing our children for the future,” he added.

The 3,000 books will be incorporated into the book exchanges throughout Gwinnett County.

Gwinnett Coalition’s Executive Director Ellen Gerstein told 11Alive that the veteran inmates in “The Barracks” in the Gwinnett County Jail are helping to sort this generous book donation.

RELATED: New Gwinnett County Jail housing unit provides additional resources for incarcerated veterans

To lend a helping hand, some of the Gwinnett County Jail deputies volunteered their own time and resources to transport the donations from the Goodwill of North Georgia to the county jail.

“They used their own time and resources to help move 2,000 pounds of books,” Deputy Shannon Volkodav said.

The “little libraries” are in the process of being distributed to local artists to be designed. They will become available for use in 2020. 

For more information contact Katie Gill at 770-995-3339, ext. 209.

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