‘Huge commitment.’ Company to donate 10,000 books to flooded Eastern Kentucky schools

Students at two schools devastated by record flooding in Eastern Kentucky will benefit from a donation of 10,000 books.

Actress Jennifer Garner, who works with Save the Children, made the announcement Thursday with kids from Robinson Elementary and Buckhorn School during an appearance on NBC’s Today morning show.

Garner said Scholastic, which says it is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, made the donation.

Garner unveiled tables stacked with 500 books during a live segment Thursday and said Scholastic had pledged to donate 5,000 additional books each to Robinson and Buckhorn when they have libraries to hold them, presenting a plaque to librarian Antoinett Vermillion.

“That’s such a huge commitment,” said Jamie Fugate, principal at Robinson. “I was really shocked, excited and blown away.”

Robinson Elementary had to be torn down because of damage that happened during flooding on July 27, 2022, and Buckhorn was badly damaged.

Both schools were in Perry County.

This academic year, both schools are in the old A.B. Combs Elementary building, which had been empty for several years before the flood. Robinson has about 240 students in grades kindergarten through 8, while Buckhorn is a K-12 school with more than 300 students.

Officials are looking for a site to build a new Robinson Elementary, Fugate said.

The walls at Buckhorn survived the flood but there was extensive water damage. Work on a $15 million restoration of the school is underway, Fugate said.

The Today show taped a segment on the loss of libraries at the schools to air before the live segment on the donation, in which Garner lauded the resiliency of the kids in recovering from the flood and the efforts of educators and administrators to help them.

She also talked about the value of libraries to education and imagination.

“Children’s libraries are some of the most important places in the country,” she said.