The indie-music duo Pomplamoose made a guest appearance Friday at Leadership Public School in Richmond. Students wanted to personally thank them for helping to collect books for three high schools and a middle school.
The book drive started in November and in just two months, the four schools received more than 11,000 books from pretty much all over the world.
Because there are some many, some of the books will now be delivered to other schools.
Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn offered their online Christmas album for free to anyone who bought one of the books on the list through Amazon.com. Participants picked a book, sent it to the Richmond address in the box and the downloadable songs were theirs.
"We have a unique opportunity with a generous fan base that mobilized early and with enthusiasm and it's the best way to give back," Conte said.
It was English teacher Tyler Hester's idea. He wanted to motivate his students, some of whom are not reading at grade level.
"A book that is in line with their life experiences, they are going to be thrilled to read," Hester said.
