Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
“I wanted to have more people see women doing sports, because people need women to play sports so they can motivate themselves and see other people play,” said Molly in an interview with CTV’s Mike Lamb. “So then they feel really excited to do something new.”
Molly said she is looking for books with lots of pictures.
“I would like some people to donate books that have lots of pictures of girls playing basketball because then other people will be like ‘wow that’s so cool, maybe I’ll be like them sometime.’”
Molly’s mother Lucy said she would like to see more books available for young readers that focus on women in sport.
“I think girls in sports is really gaining momentum, there’s been a lot of great attention lately with PWHL and the March Madness in the U.S. More girls are playing more sports I think than ever and that’s not really reflected yet in the books that are available for young readers,” she said.
“I think it would be great if we can have more available so that girls can see not just boys and men as people to inspire to be like in the sports world, and can start to see themselves on those pages as well,” she adds.
“The school librarian said she’s all in for it and she’s really excited,” said Molly.
“Were really proud of her, she very determined and she likes to speak up and speak out about things that she thinks are important and this is something she thought was important and she likes to get things done and make it happen. So she’s going for it and we totally support that,” said Lucy.
Donations have already started to come in for the book drive.
“We’ve had a few people reach out to us already that have books there ready for us to pick up or are planning to donate. So that’s great,” said Lucy.
Molly said she is grateful for everyone who donates.
“I feel pretty happy. I’m really graceful also for all the people who are chipping in and helping.”
Donations for Molly’s Book Drive can be made by contacting [email protected] by April 30.
