By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Valley Intermediate School is looking for help to stock its library shelves with books built to last.

Through the “Save our School Library” fundraiser, the school is collecting donations to purchase several books from the Bound to Stay Bound company, which will bind and deliver books to the school after the donations are collected.

“I use this (Bound to Stay Bound) company anyway, and they are wonderful,” said VIS Librarian Mary Foy. “The books they bind are built to last the hundreds of checkouts that they will see at our school. Regular trade hardback books fall apart after so many checkouts.”

Through the fundraiser, the school submitted a book wish list to the company containing several popular books. The list includes books such as “Trundle’s Quest,” “Can we save the Tiger” and several novels in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series.

“The students love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series,” Foy said, noting the library only has one copy of several popular books. “Our kids love to read. We may have 10 kids on a waiting list for a book.”

All donations made to the fundraiser will go straight to the Bound to Stay Bound company, which will use the money to bind and deliver the books to the school.

“All I really do is put the books on the wish list. They even do all the cataloguing and everything,” Foy said. “One-hundred percent of the donations go to help buy the books.”

Those interested in donating to the project can do so by visiting Btsb.com/sosl/valleyintermediate. Foy said the school is looking to raise $1,500 before the fundraiser concludes at the end of February.

Donors can either make a monetary donation or fund the purchase of a book on the wish list. After purchasing a book, donors also have the option of placing a nameplate in the book in honor of their child.