After conferring with Jerome Bardouille, the principal of Isaiah Thomas Secondary School grades 7 to 10, our marching orders were to convert a (rare) spare classroom into the school's "literacy center." In common with most islands in the Caribbean, many Dominican students arrive in secondary school with poor reading skills. The purpose of the ITSS Literacy Center is to provide an oasis for students where they can improve their reading skills, exercise their minds with challenging books, and expand their educational horizons. The first step was transforming the sleep-inducing institutional-blue walls with vibrant Caribbean colors selected by the school's English department: Rum Punch, Peanut, and Mint Green. That's TL, above right, rolling on the first of two coats of Peanut.

Hands Across the Sea was fortunate to receive the volunteer assistance of the Wilson family (Jim, Heather, and boys Cal and William) from Washington, D.C., who were cruising their sailboat, Ceol Mor, in Dominica. The Wilsons wielded paint rollers and paint brushes with skill and plenty of humor. A fun — and paint-splattered — time was enjoyed by all!

After the walls were jazzed up, TL swung into home-carpenter action, turning 380 feet of pine boards, a dozen sheets of plywood, lots of glue, sandpaper, primer, paint, and several thousand screws into a graceful twin alcove of 13 bookshelves topped by 100 feet of bookstands — all painted in Deep Sea, Peanut, and Rum Punch! The planning, construction, and painting of the literacy center took three and a half weeks. The money for literacy center materials was provided by the cash donations of generous Hands Across the Sea supporters. Thank you for helping make it happen for the students of ITSS!

Meanwhile, the Isaiah Thomas English department worked over their Easter school holiday to catalog the children's, high school, and adult-reading books that had recently arrived in Dominica after a sea voyage from Miami, via Hands Across the Sea logistics partners Boaters for Books, AIT Worldwide, Harte-Hanks, and Tropical Shipping. And thanks again to you, Hands book donors — if you've ever wondered, this is what happens to your "gently used" books after you donate them!

With the 13 individual bookshelves screwed and glued and (at last!) painted, TL fastened them together into a bookstore-like twin alcove layout. The shelves are capped by plywood and feature Rum Punch-painted bookstands to display the titles and grab the attention of students.

The Isaiah Thomas Secondary School Literacy Center features a wide range of good books — everything from Maya Angelou to The Hardy Boys. If you donated a book to Hands, you may see it here!

Instead of placing the books on the shelves in the conventional way, with their spines facing out, we decided to turn all the books on all the shelves so that their covers face out — a more effective way of engaging the students. TL and Jerome Bardouille, the principal of Isaiah Thomas Secondary School, await the arrival of the very first group of students to visit the Literacy Center. This would be a kind of "test marketing" for the concept: What would the kids think?

For young people, books, libraries, and literacy centers aren't usually considered exciting, but the "test dirve" of the ITSS Literacy Center really was exciting. The room was infused with the quiet, high-energy buzz of minds at work — and the occasional shriek when a student found a particularly exciting book, such as High School Musical II! We'll let the following six photos speak for themselves.

Harriet confers with (left to right) Ms. Sandra Roberts, the head of the ITSS English Department, and Ms. Farrah Abraham, a grades 7 and 8 English teacher.

Ah, the challenges of cataloging new titles. Ms. Jeanelle Junkere, Ms. Abraham, and Harriet (left to right) consider the finer points of book categories.

Everybody, stand back and give this man some room to read! Yes, it's a special moment when a young student discovers The Hardy Boys. Will Frank and Joe Hardy brave danger and solve The Hidden Harbor Mystery? Turn the page and find out!