June 6, 2023 -- Many district elementary students are going to have a lot more books to choose from when they visit their school libraries next year. Canterbury, Fairfax, Oxford and Roxboro Elementaries were each awarded a $5,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.
At Oxford, media ancillary Anastasia Fiala is using the grant to update and diversify their entire collection. Out of the 10,000 books currently in the school library, only about 400 were published after 2015, with many from the 1980s and 90s. While there’s certainly a place for the classics, Ms. Fiala said, “It was also important for me to include more books with characters and content that represent our student body. It's important for our kids to see themselves in the stories that they read.”
She also used the money to purchase more graphic novels, updated picture books, and scary stories as those are always popular with her students.
Laurie Wilson at Canterbury is using most of the money to update their nonfiction section. “Science and technology and research have been happening so quickly that it's difficult to keep up with all the new knowledge out there, so I'll be trying to purchase titles that are meaningful to the students as well as fulfilling some of the biggest needs of the teachers.”
Michael Spears at Fairfax has a similar mission: replacing outdated biographies and nonfiction titles. “I love to show diversity in my library all year long so this grant will help do that.”
For Michele Alexander at Roxboro, the money provides an opportunity to purchase updated materials, especially nonfiction texts about countries, cultures and nationalities. “These books will help our young readers develop curiosity and empathy for cultures and communities that they normally would not experience. It also allows me to expand my collection on cultural diversity which will better reflect our student population.”
The four media ancillaries are grateful to Boulevard’s Rachel Gray, who was awarded the same grant last year, for paving the way. Since 2002, the Laura Bush Foundation has awarded over $21 million to 3,600 school libraries across the country, five of them in our district. As Ms. Alexander says, “Books are the perfect place to explore one’s passions, experience new places, or simply look at pictures which inspire them. We want our students to see themselves when they pick up a book.”