[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/book-drive-2007.jpg” caption=”The School of Rehabilitation Science held a book drive that collected 250 books for schools in developing countries. Photo courtesy of Kathy Fazzari.”]The School of Rehabilitation Science collected about 250 books as part of a book drive for developing countries. The books were sent to schools in Bangladesh, Brazil, Croatia, Pakistan and South Africa.

“The idea came from hearing from other countries about the high cost of books and thinking about this as I was re-organizing my book shelves,” said Mary Law, professor and associate dean of the School of Rehabilitation Science. “I talked with our faculty members who liked the idea. We gathered the books in my office to make the drive visible to everyone and spur us to send them out to the countries as soon as possible.”

The books were sent to countries that had faculty contacts with the School of Rehabilitation Science. Countries were also chosen from occupational therapy and physiotherapy world association websites.

The School received a number of thank-you notes from the recipients.

“We would be very appreciative of the books,” wrote a professor in the Division of Occupational Therapy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. “We will distribute to others in the rest of Africa.”