The handful of students at one of Canada's last remaining one-room schoolhouses have read 632 books per child to win the international 2007/08 Adopt-A-Library WOW Reading Challenge.

 Big Tancook Elementary School finished ahead of more than 80 schools entered in the contest and averaged 165 more books per child than the runner-up.

 Education Minister Karen Casey and MLA Judy Streatch presented the students and teacher Elizabeth Sutherland with world and Canadian championship trophies during a ceremony on June 16.

 "Big Tancook Island is a wonderful and unique school," said Ms Streatch in a press release.

 "The students, Ms Sutherland and the entire island community should be proud of this accomplishment," she said. The school also received a world championship banner and a cheque for $3,000, which will go towards new books.

 The reading challenge took place in 80 schools and four countries. Participating students read almost 1.1 million books between November 2007 and April 2008. Seven schools on the South Shore read 48,114 books.

 "A love of reading is essential in developing literacy skills throughout the course of one's life," said Ms Streatch.

 "The school should take pride not only in their international win, but also in their commitment to learning and literacy."

 Meanwhile, Chester RCMP Cst. Susan Foote and local program co-ordinator Teresa Workman of the South Shore Regional Library (SSRL) received community awards for their contributions.

 "Teresa's enthusiasm for the program and her outreach with the schools who took part were key to making the Adopt-A-Library WOW Reading Challenge a success in this area," said SSRL chief librarian Cheryl Stenstrom in a separate press release.

 The program was founded by RCMP Cst. John Kennedy almost a decade ago and is a partnership of police, public libraries, businesses and communities that aims to prevent crime by increasing child literacy.

 For more information, check on-line at www.fightingcrime.ca.