Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen reports on a school in Lebanon, where Syrian refugee children and learning from donated picture books via the International Book Bank.

• The IBB is just one of many organizations that are providing education materials for kids in need. This piece profiles their efforts and gives a broader view on why a stable classroom environment is so crucial for those displaced by conflict and other hardships.

• Here's how we can bring more mental health support for refugees.

A textbook is one of the world’s most basic educational tools. It can come in different forms: small or large. Hardcover or paperback. Science or Math. English or French.

Sometimes, it takes the form of a picture book — and in Lebanon, donated picture books are making a huge difference for newly arrived Syrian refugee children.

At the Jusoor School for Syrian Refugees, which serves students at informal refugee camps in Lebanon's Western Beqaa region, picture books help refugee kids learn English and French, and ease their transition into the Lebanese school system.

“It’s these resources that allow for interactive activities,” Izdihar Omar, an administrator at Jusoor School, told humanitarian organization Anera. “Given the poverty these students live in, they need these types of fun learning activities.”

Jusoor received a shipment of textbooks through the International Book Bank (IBB), one of many nonprofit organizations working to put textbooks and other educational supplies into the hands of the students that need them the most.

Doing so can be challenging, and involve several levels of coordination. But the need to keep refugee students in school can’t be understated.

Worldwide, more than half of the world’s refugees are under the age of 18. For them, gaining access to an education can mean the difference between life in poverty and the opportunity to improve their futures. In the short term, textbooks can be crucial for keeping kids in school and away from some of the myriad challenges children refugee camps face, including child marriage, child labor, mental health risks, and radicalization.

Read the full article about why your old textbooks might end up in refugee camps by Phineas Rueckert at Global Citizen.