Teaming together to help children in developing areas of the world, Deseret Book Company and the Church's Humanitarian Services shipped 6,500 new books to Ghana and Fiji on July 6.

The effort was the first in an ongoing partnership, started less than a year ago and titled "Chapters of Hope." The program is design to provide opportunities to youth, ages 6 to 18, by sending books to homes, schools and libraries in developing areas of the world, where most children have little or no access to books.

"Books are powerful idea generators in the hands of children. They help expand their world, especially when they are so limited by personal and regional resources," said Sheri Dew, Deseret Book president and CEO and former member of the general Relief Society presidency, in a press release. "There is very little access to books in many areas of the world and we see Chapters of Hope making a significant difference in the lives of these young people.

"It's exciting to see this come to fruition with the first shipments. . . . We look forward to ongoing shipments for years to come."

The books, largely educational, are in English and are being sent to areas of the world where English is a dominant language, said Patrick Reese of Humanitarian Services. All donated funds go toward the purchase of books. Deseret Book bears the cost of program administration. Contributions to the Church's humanitarian aid fund are making the shipment of the books possible, he added.

The books, he continued, are sent at the request of Church leaders serving in area presidencies.

As part of the program, Deseret Book uses donated funds to purchase educational books from national book publishers such as Scholastic Inc.; Paragon Press; and Grolier Publishing. In leveraging existing relationships with these publishers, Deseret Book has been able to purchase selected book titles for as little as $1. These include early readers, dictionaries, single-volume encyclopedias, illustrated fact books, and values-based novels. The books sent to Fiji and Ghana have a retail value of $60,000.

Brother Reese called the gift of knowledge, "priceless and life-changing."

Books, he added, "will help expand (children's) worlds, help promote greater literacy, build their knowledge, and help break the cycle of poverty."

In addition, he said, Humanitarian Services wanted to support a program that is filling a void.

Having a book that is written specifically for children, focused at their interest level, "is really a valuable resource," he said. "Anything that helps (individuals) improve their current circumstance is always a wonderful undertaking."

E-mail to: sarah@desnews.com