​Students filed into the gymnasium at Canterbury High School on May 24, wondering what the big surprise was going to be.

Mayor Elaine English joined them along with their teachers, Principal Susan Mabie, Colleen Dyer-Wiley, subject coordinator for literacy with ASD-W, school staff, community partners, parents and representatives of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to providing reading resources to schools. 

These representatives, all staff members at Chapters in Fredericton, presented the school with a $25,000 cheque​ on behalf of the Foundation for new books for the school's new library as well as its classroom libraries.

"We are committed to literacy in this school," said Pamela Peddle, on behalf of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation. "You are a deserving school and we are going to help you fill your shelves with books."

Principal Susan Mabie said the literacy grant would provide thousands of new books for the school over the next three years. The school applied for the grant in April and is pleased to see a "real boost to our library resources," she said.

"It's an incredible amount of funding for new books," Mabie explained. "Usually, we have a $1,500 annual budget for new books." 

The school currently partners with Sabian Cymbals, a manufacturing firm in Meductic, who send five employees each week to read to students for one hour. Students also spend the first 20 minutes of their school day reading in small groups based on reading needs. 

Mabie said the $25,000 grant will help bring in new books for readers of all levels. Many of the books in the school library are 25-50 years old. 

"We hope to use this grant to replenish our resources and replace books with current reads to help our students get even more excited about reading."

Students danced, played games and gathered around a table to see a some of the new books for their school. A cake-cutting also took place with parents and guests. 

Canterbury High School is one of 30 schools to receive a 2018 grant as part of the Foundation's $1.5 million commitment to high-needs schools across Canada. Canterbury is a kindergarten to Grade 12 school serving 155 students in rural New Brunswick.

Shown in the photos below are (1) Joce Moase, Britta Belliveau, Pamela Peddle, Harper McAngus, and Michael Tingley, from Chapters in Fredericton, who presented a $25,000 cheque to Canterbury High School on behalf of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation. (2) School librarian Sherry Dymond, teacher  Kim Grant, students Alex Bedard, Oakleigh Boyd, Jax Reese, Kalen Love and Bentley Johnson, checking out some new books with teacher Holly Simpson and Joce Moase, representing the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation; (3) Educational assistant Cathy DeLong, students Logan Blair, Brooke Dickinson, Meeka Heigheis and Oakleigh Boyd enjoying some new books presented by the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.