News

New Jersey Team Collects 500 Books for IQA Book Drive

by Lindsay Garten | November 22, 2013

For the past four years, the IQA’s literacy team has been working to promote literacy with the help of IQA teams by conducting an annual book drive.

One team in particular, the Horn Tailed Horcruxes from South Orange, N.J. has managed to stand out from the pack this year with a donation of about 500 books.

So what has made the Horcruxes so successful?

“The key was really starting early,” said Marina Montenegro, the Horn Tailed Horcruxes president. “The team has been reaching out to friends, family and our community since September. We had the support of many South Orange businesses, especially the South Orange Village Diner. We had people making all sorts of donations, ranging from just one book to an incredible donation of over 200.”

Montenegro further explained that their book drive was also a book sale, which further contributed to their success.

“We took over 600 books down to South Orange's Village Diner, and our team raised over $700 with the sale,” she said.  “When people asked about what we were doing, we made sure to mention that unsold books were being donated to a literacy program, and people were going home and coming back with books for us! A couple of people even asked where we practiced and came to drop off books the next weekend.”

The book drive does not have to be a drag for teams, it can also be fun and exciting. Montenegro recalled how her team got people engaged with the drive.

“We had a book sorting night where we separated them into genres for the sale, and while it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun and the team really came together,” she said.  

While the team has not formally counted and donated all of the books they collected, they know they are well on their way to winning this year’s top prize.

“We've already dropped over more than 200 books to the donation box, and we're just packing up the rest to bring over,” she said. “We have two whole boxes we haven't even counted yet! My roommate, Claire Vodicka, and I held most of the books in our small dorm room for months, and we're still finding books everywhere. We found an entire box under bed last week that we didn't even know existed!”

When the drive ends on Dec. 6, the team that has donated the most books will receive a set of 21 exclusive t-shirts donated by the IQA ProShop. The team that has donated the second-most books will receive a set of 21 silica wristbands, and the top three donating teams will all receive certificates from the IQA.

Even if your team has not started collecting yet, it is not too late to get involved! Collect books at a tournament or practice, or set up a collection bin in your community and donate them to any charitable organization. Then send a copy of the receipt to the IQA.

For a partial list of book drive organizations, visit this page.

Email literacy team members Joey Turro at and Candace Blake at with proof of your donations or with any questions.