The Youth Homework Club located in Fitzroy Library has received an overwhelming response to a recent call for the community to donate high school textbooks.
The club, facilitated by local community organisation Young Assets Foundation and hosted by Yarra Libraries, provides after-school academic support to high school and university students from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

Faced with the challenge of budget constraints and acquiring enough current textbooks to meet student demand, Young Assets Foundation and Yarra Libraries held a textbook drive during January, with the community able to donate recently published items at any Yarra Libraries branch.

“For a long time we've had very few textbooks available to students to use when they come to the library, and we've had to use what few resources we have to help students get textbooks when they get their book list at the start of each year. We really wanted to have a good library of books available for students to use when they come to the homework club”, says Education Programs Manager Joseph Lorback.

Lorback says Young Assets Foundation were hoping to receive around 50 textbooks, only to find themselves overwhelmed with a large volume of donations from the Yarra community.

“We got over 300 textbooks, so that's been pretty incredible. The best thing has been seeing students and saying what you need? I'm pretty sure we're going to be able to provide it.”

Lorback passed on a message of thanks to the Yarra community for supporting the homework club’s efforts.

“A really, really big thank you on behalf of the Fitzroy Youth Homework Club and all the students and families that go there. That means that the homework club space is going to achieve so much more for students coming and wanting to succeed in education, and for those families that are struggling to get textbooks and for the basic things for education - we're going to be able to help provide to them, and that's thanks to the really, really generous community that's donated these textbooks.

Want to help out more? Fitzroy Youth Homework Club is in need of CAS Calculators and has volunteer opportunities available for tutors. For more information, contact YAF through their website at: www.yaf.org.au/contact