Distribution of books to take place over two days across five distribution points – priority collection on 10 December 2016, and general public collection on 11 December 2016
For the first time, 130 members of the public signed up as volunteers and will contribute a projected 2,080 hours to this community project.

SINGAPORE, 10 December 2016 – NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) will distribute free textbooks at five distribution centres as the 34th edition of the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook Project comes to a close this weekend. With this year’s target of 400,000 books met, this annual community initiative has reused or recycled over 4.7 million books since its inception. The public is invited to visit any of the distribution centres on Sunday, 11 December 2016 to select the textbooks they need for school next year.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO, NTUC FairPrice, said, “FairPrice is grateful for the overwhelming support and outpouring of goodwill towards the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook Project. Beyond the steady stream of textbook donations that we receive each year, we also have members of the public come forward to donate time and effort to this meaningful cause.” 

Since 1983, 4.7 million pre-loved textbooks have been donated by the community and redistributed to alleviate the cost of textbooks for needy families. This initiative also helps to reduce waste and promote recycling. 

Mr Seah added, “this Project also fulfills our mission of building a sustainable environment as used textbooks are redistributed and recycled.  Over the years, this initiative has demonstrated how sustained and concerted effort from various stakeholders in our community can create a positive impact on our society and make lives better for all.”

To ensure the textbooks reach those who need it the most, FairPrice worked with volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) and Community Development Councils (CDCs) to identify students in need of financial aid. The parents and caregivers of these students are given priority to collect the textbooks a day before the project is open to the general public.  About 20,000 students between the ages of 7 to 16 years have been registered under this priority scheme.

Heightened community involvement

The FairPrice store at SingPost Centre will see several technologies being tested and developed. The “FairPrice@SingPost” mobile app, the first of its kind in Singapore, allows customers to locate products within the store

For the first time since the project was launched 34 years ago, members of the public were invited this year to register as volunteers to assist with promotion, mass community collection, sorting and distribution of the textbooks. In total, 130 members of the public came forward and will contribute a projected 2,080 volunteering hours to the Project. 

This year, 170 community and supporting partners have supported this initiative to serve as distribution centres and provide logistics support. 

Textbook Collection Details

The five distribution centres are strategically located across Singapore to enhance accessibility and provide greater convenience for the public to collect the textbooks. Last year, there were three distribution centres. Books available for collection include primary school to tertiary level textbooks, storybooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias and assessments books.

The public is invited to collect free textbooks donated by the community on 11 December 2016, Sunday at the following locations:

Books available for collection include primary school to tertiary level textbooks, storybooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias and assessments books.

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