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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - On Monday, St. Joseph School got a call telling them that the school would receive $105,000 to support reading activities over the next three years.

Needless to say, principal Flo Campbell and the librarian, Brenda Macleod, were thrilled. Campbell said the CEO of Chapters and Indigo, Heather Reisman, phoned them on Monday and told them "'If we gave you $70,000, would it make a difference?' and we were so excited, hugging each other, and then she said 'How about if we give you even more money?'"

Flo Campbell, left, principal of St. Joseph School, and school library technician Brenda Macleod hold two popular kids books in the school library on Tuesday morning. They will receive a $105,000 grant towards reading and books over three years. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

The Indigo Love of Reading grant, according to its website, goes to schools "that are challenged by socio-economic factors that put their children at higher risk." Such factors include having students that face cultural or language barriers, or have lower income or education levels.

"We get $35,000 a year for each of the three years, and $31,000 of that has to go directly on books, and the rest of that is to be spent on activities to support reading - which is also great fun because we have money to host activities," said Macleod.

"And to put books right in the students' hands to keep, as prizes," Campbell added. "Oh, we're excited! Now the fun begins as to where we're actually going to spend it.

"We had to put in a proposal as to where the money's going to go, and the first part of it is about developing classroom libraries in every class, so that every classroom over each of the three years will get a set dollar figure that they can spend on books for that level of class, so there will always be fresh books.

"The second part of the grant we've designed to go into creating a Northern collection - one that honours the culture and the values of the land that we live in, in the North, so we'll always have relevant and up-to-date resource books, and storybooks for the kids. It's affirming our aboriginal, Northern culture."

Though they are starting to plan how they will spend the money, right now they still find it hard to get over the excitement of getting the grant.

"All the things we could do for kids with books, and not having to worry about the money - it's just tremendous," said Campbell.

"We live in a world where communication is fast-paced and absolutely crucial to our being successful. And clear, strong communication comes from being able to read and write."