Caitlyn Webber stands with packages containing donated books at her home on Okinawa, Nov. 6, 2024. Webber, a Marine Corps spouse and substitute English teacher at Kubasaki High School, has collected about 240 donated books for her students through an online book drive. (Anya Webber)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Caitlyn Webber, a military spouse, self-published author and substitute teacher on this Marine base, wanted to help with the high school’s upcoming book swap.
She thought she might be able to collect about 20 books when she launched her book drive, Operation #OkiTeenReaders, on Oct. 20 through a video on her website and social media. She’s now expecting about 240 donated books in the mail, and an unknown number of donations from people across Okinawa.
“When I went to pick up books the other day there was 26 packages,” Webber said by phone Oct. 30. “They’re just kind of looking at me like, ‘What is this?’ And I’m like, ‘Books; they’re books.’ And as they’re scanning them, the guys from the back came out with five more packages to scan in. I’m like, ‘I’ll see you guys probably tomorrow.’”
Webber, who self-published her three-book “Assassin” series under the pen name Libby Webber, has been an 11th- and 12th-grade English language arts substitute at Kubasaki High School for about a year.
She came up with the idea for the book drive after learning about the swap organized by librarian Charlotte Windom-Perdomo. Students may trade books they’ve already read for new ones at the swap, which is slated for Dec. 16-20, according to Department of Defense Education Activity spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson.
“My kids like books, but we don’t have a really good bookstore here,” Webber said.
Her TikTok, Instagram and Facebook followers, some of whom also have military ties, responded in overwhelming fashion.
“My ‘BookTok’ community loved it because not only are they military kids, they’re teens who are often overlooked,” she said. “I feel like when we talk about kids, everyone thinks about the elementary kids; they don’t think about the teens who are moving in their high school year. They just sacrifice so much.”
She reached her first goal of 100 books in three days, and another 100 a week later.
The books range from graphic novels to young adult fiction published by independent authors who are friends of Webber. “If you name a genre, it’s probably on there,” she said.
Webber, whose husband is Marine Gunnery Sgt. Dion Webber, will be on Okinawa at least another two years with her children, 11 and 13, she said. She is planning to do the book drive again next year and is thinking about expanding it to include other overseas military locations such as Germany.
Mail-in donations closed on Thursday, but people on Okinawa can get in touch at Webber’s website, libbywebber.com and donate to the drive through the end of this month.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Kids don’t read.’ I’m like, ‘kids definitely read,’” she said. “As an English teacher, the kids who you think don’t read, I know they do based on the stories and the writing that they turn in to me. I’m like, 100% these kids read, even if you don’t know that they do.”
