The Vineland Public Library’s Children’s Department recently added 40 new books to its collection, thanks to a local teen’s volunteer project.

Hunter McChesney, 17, of Hopewell Township, grew up attending many programs at the Vineland Public Library. In response to hearing about a funding reduction at the library, McChesney came up with a volunteer project to add new books to the Children’s Department.

“I wanted to help in any way possible because of what the library has meant to me,” McChesney said. “I’ve been to so many fun events. I strongly feel that these programs have influenced my love of reading, writing and knowledge, as well as my good grades in school.”

McChesney raised $430 for the Children’s Department to purchase books from Usborne Books & More, an educational children’s book publisher. Then Usborne, through their Literacy for a Lifetime grant program, matched the money he collected at 50 percent, increasing Hunter’s donation to $645. The Children’s Department selected about 40 books on a variety of topics, with Hunter personally delivering them to Head of Children’s and Young Adult Services Helen Cowan Margiotti.

“This was a wonderful project for Hunter to do for the library,” Margiotti said. “It was a large donation that gave the librarians the option to select the best books for our collection. We are very grateful to Hunter for thinking of us.”

The new books cover such topics as world history, grammar, dinosaurs and more for a variety of ages.