July 29, 2004

Travelers wanted School project to tag along

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Summer travelers are invited to participate in a global project that started two years ago at Bret Harte Middle School.

To continue the growing Anne Frank Memorial Wall, eighth grade language arts teacher Jim DeLong is looking for those about to embark on trips around the country—or the world—to participate in the ongoing project.

“We are encouraging readers to take a moment as they go on vacation to visit bookstores or libraries and take photos of her diary,” explains DeLong. “The photos can be sent to our Web site to help build the global wall.”

The project started two years ago, when students were given an assignment to find copies of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in languages other than English, and then take photographs holding the book in cities and countries around the world. Today, the memorial wall stands as a testament to the power of the written word and the longevity of spirit.

As the wall continues to grow, so does the Web site, created last year by former student Jon Erickson to build a global Internet version of the one that is quickly outgrowing the middle school classroom. The site currently showcases 523 photos from readers, holding copies of the diary in 24 languages from 24 countries around the world.

Now, they look to expand their efforts by partnering with bookcrossing.com, by “releasing books into the wild” so that others, through serendipity, can discover and read them. To date, more than 1.6 million books have been released by bookcrossing.com, and DeLong hopes to do the same with the diary.

Bret Harte’s new venture has already resulted in the release of the diary into eastern India, Mexico, Oregon, and a highly anticipated event—as a former student prepares to release a copy of the diary in Russia—only the second book recorded.

Delong plans to distribute donated copies of “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Alicia, My Story,” written by local Holocaust survivor Alicia Appleman-Jurman, through the bookcrossing.com Web site, and in return, ask people to send back photos of themselves with the books.

“This way, we can create photo trails of each book’s ‘release into the wild,’” explains DeLong. “We’ll publish the ‘photo trails’ as part of The Anne Frank Wall project.”

“We need help with this,” he adds. “If readers wanted to help release the diary ‘into the wild’ while on vacation, we could arrange to give them some donated copies.”

For more information on participating in the project, contact Jim DeLong at (408) 535-6270 or james_delong@sjusd.k12.ca.us. Books can be picked up at the Bret Harte office during summer hours ( 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.). Please call ahead to make pickup arrangements.

The complete story on the project can be found on the cover of the May 13 issue of the Almaden Times Weekly, or in the online archives at http://www.almadentimes.com/051304/anne_frank.htm