January 2024 | Vol. 06 Iss. 1
FREE
LOCAL PHILANTHROPIST
TRANSFORMS LIVES ONE BOOK AT A TIME By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com
C
indy Dumas was not a reader. In fact, she struggled in school. It wasn’t until fifth grade that her teacher, Dr. Franklin, introduced her to the Nancy Drew series and she began to find value in books. Although she only knew Franklin for a few months before his death, Dumas said his guidance changed her life. To this day, she still pays homage to Franklin at Marissa’s Books, a community bookstore Dumas founded in 2013. Located in Millcreek at 3302 S. 900 East, Marissa’s Books is a refuge for book lovers. Dumas goes out of her way to donate books to schools to help foster a love for reading, but when she was asked to donate books to Roosevelt Continuation School (3225 S. 800 East), she was shocked to learn the school had no library. “I think that a school without books, well, I’m not sure what that is,” Dumas said. “I think with this particular school, these kids are kind of on their last chance. I know they’ve had problems in traditional schools. It’s important for a student to be able to go into a library and find something, whether they’re homeless or whether they’re having struggles at home.” So Dumas created a library for the school. “I could build a bookstore in a week, but this was a long process,” she said. “It took all of our brains at my warehouse and my staff who was working with me, and we worked through each individual issue
and did a lot of research about creating libraries.” Her team worked with school officials to compile a list of books to best address the needs of students from grades six-12. Along with fiction and nonfiction options, educators wanted to include career-oriented books to help students move into a trade or career. The biggest challenges for the team included creating the cataloging system for the library, learning how to use the Dewey Decimal System to shelve books, how to label all the books and how to create a borrowing system so students could take books home. In the end, Dumas donated 10,000 books to the school, a value of approximately $80,000. When the books were delivered, one of the school counselors began to cry. She didn’t realize the books would be new, she was expecting used books. Roosevelt building administrator Jason Kemble said, “What once was an empty space at our school, came to life because of this gift we received. Some of our students come from extremely challenging life circumstances and many have found a love of reading as an outlet, guiding their imaginations while also helping them academically.” Late last year, Dumas was presented with the Utah Heart & Hands Awards by Utah Philanthropy Day for her work with the school. United Way Cindy Dumas sits in her Millcreek shop, Marissa’s Books. She was recently awarded the had nominated her for the award and Dumas and Utah Hearts & Hands Award for creating a library at Roosevelt Continuation School. Continued page 8 (City Journals)
Don’t Let Winter Ruin Your New Year!
Call Diamond Tree Experts Today!
801-938-4345
Now Accepting Green Waste at our Magna Yard!
DiamondTreeExperts.com
Now Hiring! Up to $80K 801.262.1596
Tree health care Tree trimming/removal Organic mulch Stump grinding Emergency tree services Demolition
30% OFF Tree Services 7774 West SR201 - Magna, UT Commercial & Residential Must present coupon at time of estimate Expires 2/15/24
Thank You
to our Community Sponsors for supporting City Journals