St. Joseph’s Indian School Bookmobile Completes a Record-breaking Summer

The St. Joseph’s Indian School Bookmobile wrapped up a busy summer mid-July. The tour broke records in every category. The outreach made stops in 44 communities, crisscrossing South Dakota to serve nearly 2,300 children and adults. The Bookmobile crew distributed nearly 22,600 books free of charge, some of which were Native American books by Native American authors procured through Lily Mendoza of Rapid City, S.D.

The Bookmobile is also part of the school’s effort to connect with alums and distribute food and dental hygiene supplies in communities across the state into North Dakota. A record 85 alumni visited with Alumni Relations team members Andy Lepkowski, Krista Lepkowski and other staff and crew members.

In addition to Andy and Krista, many of the school’s staff volunteered this year, several of them family service counselors hoping to connect with families and students. Clay Chauncy, undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, participated in the six-week experience as a summer intern and Thuan Nguyen, seminarian for the Priests of the Sacred Heart, also joined the crew. The two speak about their experiences on Hóčhoka Podcast Season 6, Episode 4 which airs later this fall.

Chauncy shared this reflection on his experience:

Overall, the experience was very personally impactful. I learned so much about people in general. It was extremely nice to see that no matter what people have been through or how different they were from me, we still respected each other as people and were able to make some great friendships. This was especially true with kids. All it took was a joke or a compliment to make their day, and it was so nice to be able to do that. The bookmobile is so much more than just giving out books, its giving people the dignity that they deserve.

Watch a short video about the bookmobile here.