When Lisa Capella stumbled upon thousands of educational books in a school building that was waiting to be demolished, she knew something had to be done.

The books were left behind at the local Albert Einstein Academy, which closed its campuses last year due to declining enrollment and financial constraints.

So, with the help of Glenn Terry, an account executive at Valencia-based LBW Insurance, the two were able to find a temporary home for the books – Terry’s garage.

However, due to the sheer volume of books, Terry is now trying to find a means to donate them in bulk instead of giving them away individually.

“These books were about to be demolished along with the (Albert Einstein) building,” Terry said. “I didn’t want that to happen. I felt like there was a cause.”

As a member of the Rotary Club of Santa Clarita, which is a global network of leaders and problem-solvers who come together to make positive and lasting changes in the community, Terry said it was important for him to get involved in something like this.

“This came across my radar through Lisa and Intertex (Property Advisors),” Terry said. “These books could use a home before they tear down the building.”

Through the assistance of Capella and Intertex Property Advisors, Inc., on behalf of Red Hook Charter School, LLC, Terry got the OK to collect the books before the building was demolished.

With the help of fellow Rotarians, Terry then arranged use of a truck from a local realtor and took on the monumental task of boxing and transporting the books.

Terry estimates there are close to 2,000 educational textbooks for Grades 1-6, including hundreds of new reader pamphlets.

Terry inventoried the following list of textbooks:
Note: This list does not include the nearly 600 easy reader pamphlets.

– 81 Science A Closer Look
– 40 Intergrated i Science
– 20 Earth Space i Science
– 22 Reading Street
– 99 United State History Social St
– 14 Interactive Science
– 51 Our Country and Its Regions
– 54 All Together Economics
– 28 Digits Accelerated Math
– 11 Our Golden State Ca. Vistas
– 60 All Together
– 36 People and Places History
– 16 Discovering our Past History
– 12 Science
– 10 Readers & Writers Notebooks
– 26 Out of The Dust
– 133 Reading Street lower grade
– 34 Envision Math
– 46 Science A Closer Look
– 41 Communities
– 21 Science Rocks
– 600 Easy Reading Small Books
– 300 Misc Text and Reading books

But Terry said it’s been difficult finding an organization to donate the books to in bulk. He has been in talks with officials at the Williams S. Hart Union High School District and Real Life Church. But nothing has been made official.

“This fell on my lap,” Terry said. “And I don’t want these books to go to waste.”

For more information or if you know of an organization willing to obtain these books in bulk, contact Glenn Terry at (661) 312-7268.