Gathered in the winter sunshine outside the council chambers this morning was a small crowd and a big cheque, carried around the world to be delivered to the Lismore Library and well-loved local book store the Book Warehouse.

Karla Loughnan, who grew up in Lismore along with her siblings Jane and Matt, has been living in Singapore for the last 14 years where her daughter Millie attends the Australian International School.

“It’s a huge school, it’s from preschool all the way up to year 12. About 80% of the kids are Aussies and most of the staff. They teach the Australian curriculum. It’s a big Australian community so we have our eyes on Australia and everything that’s happening here,” Karla explained.

“My daughter Millie and her friend Ollie put together this initiative to raise money to try to help replace some of the books lost in the flood from the Lismore Library.”

Millie and Ollie, school captains currently in year 11, had the idea to ask students to bring their school stuff in anything but a backpack for a day.

“Some kids brought microwave ovens and tool boxes and golf carts. There was skateboards and hamster cages and eskies. Some kids brought in a blow-up boat which was sort of fitting. Then they had to donate coins as they came into school. It was complete mayhem as you can imagine – 1500 kids bringing all of this stuff,” Karla added.

“Part of their year 11 and 12 curriculum is that they have to do a community project so Mille jumped on this and said let’s try raise some money for Lismore. She had heard that the library had lost 29,000 books and thought that was a great way, as a community, to give something back to Lismore.”

The students also wanted to extend the donation process to support local businesses so Karla reached out to ex-school friend Sarah Morrow, owner of Lismore’s favourite bookshop on Keen Street, heavily impacted by the flood like all CBD businesses.

“My brother Matt Healy owns Daley’s, my sister Jane went to school with Sarah Morrow who owns the Book Warehouse, it’s all connected. The money that the kids raised is being donated to the Book Warehouse with the idea that when the library finally does their stocktake after the donations and they know what they need to fill in the gaps, they can go to the Book Warehouse and order. Hopefully, in time, the library can restock everything that they’ve lost. I’m sure it’s a massive job,” Karla said.

Year 10 Trinity student, Claira Parsons was also in attendance to represent the school community of the AIS in Singapore.

Book Warehouse owner Sarah Morrow with the cheque that travelled from Singapore to Lismore

Library Manager Lucy Kinsley was thrilled with the donations the library received in the wake of the flood disaster.

“We’ve got quite a bit to catalogue. We’ve got three 40 foot shipping containers of donations. People have also been donating to the Book Warehouse, they have a special account for us. We’re going to open with a great new supply of books and things for the Lismore community, it’s just wonderful,” Lucy said.

Mayor Steve Krieg also expressed his delight and gratitude. Krieg explained that there has been an inundation of ideas and requests to assist the Lismore community in recovery and this one, as an ex-school teacher himself, caught his eye.

“Through some mutual friends, I saw this idea and I thought it was a great thing. What’s happened to Lismore in northern NSW has reached out to people across the globe. So, I took the opportunity to get in contact and spoke to the principal at the school and organised a skype conversation with the school captains, Mille and Ollie. Apparently, there was a story of three girls who blew up a life raft. They had to pack it all up, carry it on the train and when they got to school, the three of them blew it up and walked around all day carrying a boat with their books in it. An amazing initiative. That’s the reach that this disaster has had,” our Mayor said.

“Thank you to the school. They were beautiful kids to talk to. The connection of Lismore reaches globally and this is another sign of that so thank you so much for your efforts. We might get over there for a school assembly one day. And on behalf of the library, thank you so much. They really have struggled but they’re doing an amazing job. I unloaded a truck myself the other day, it nearly killed me,” Steve added.

AIS students Millie and Ollie in Singapore on a video call with Mayor Steve Krieg

“It was a moment in time where 6000 kilometres away, 2500 kids were thinking of the people of Lismore and trying to do something to make a tiny difference,” Karla concluded.

To make a donation to the library, follow this link to the website.