By Gary Cooper
Throughout February 2009, the New Jersey State Library, the New Jersey Library Association and libraries throughout New Jersey plan to honor the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, as part of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration, by collecting pennies.
Lincoln firmly believed in education, equality, opportunity and peace. To help continue his legacy, the State Library and NJLA are encouraging New Jersey libraries to participate in the Lincoln Pennies for Peace Campaign. All funds collected will be donated to Pennies for Peace which collects funds for the Central Asia Institute co-founded by Greg Mortenson, the subject of the bestselling biography, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School At A Time.” The money will be used to build school libraries in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“We will have a large jar at our circulation desk to collect donations,” said Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian. “Along with the NJLA, we will be sponsoring a Pennies for Peace contest for all public and school libraries to encourage them to join with us in this drive to offer children in another part of the world the opportunity to read for learning and for pleasure.”
So far, 25 public libraries and 12 school libraries have joined the cause. In addition, the Institute for Global Understanding, Monmouth University, will be conducting the campaign during the Global Understanding Convention in April.
The original Pennies for Peace was conceived by students in a Wisconsin elementary school in 1996. Since then, over 16 million pennies have been raised by over 700 schools in all 50 states, including over 10 million pennies in the past year. The program is designed to educate children about the world beyond their experience and show them that they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Libraries may still register for the campaign at http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html.
After failing to reach the summit of K-2, Mortenson, emaciated and exhausted from his experience, staggered into a poor remote village whose residents nursed him back to health. He noted the children had no school or school supplies, using the ground and sticks to practice their multiplication tables. He promised to build them a school, and since then has made it his life’s work to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan to educate students where no schools existed. His mission has been to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of these two countries. To date, the Central Asia Institute has established 61 schools, educating over 25,000 students, including 14,000 girls.
Now those schools need libraries. “We believe that Lincoln would have been proud to have New Jersey libraries adopt this campaign in his honor,” said Blake. “Lincoln would have been very supportive of helping children in other areas of the world receive an education to help them become insightful leaders and active participants in global peace.
Updated list of participants are available on the NJ State Library Website newsletter at: http://www.njstatelib.org/

