## **IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LIBRARIES**

## *HIGHLIGHTS* 

## *FROM THE 2005 GRANTS*

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## **KONocti unified school district** 

## California 

> Total No. Of Schools: 6 Students Served: 2,960 Award Amount:
> \$329,722.00

The Konocti Unified School District applied for the Improving Literacy
Through School Libraries Grant so that each of its six schools could
make their library become the heart of each school they serve. The
district proposed to build on research that shows strong school library
programs have an impact on student achievement. Led by project director
Monte Gregg, the Konocti Read & Link for Lifelong Learning project
sought to meet their goal of making libraries the center of each school.

Weeding out old materials was a major focus of the project. Carefully
selected and relevant new materials replaced approximately 17,000
outdated, dusty, and shabby books. Among the outdated non-fiction titles
were "A History of the U.S. Navy" (1936), "Management of the Modern
Home" (1972), "You and Space Travel" (1951), "The United States Border
Patrol" (1965), "Let's Find Out About Telephones" (1967), and
"Television Magic" (1978). At Lower Lake Elementary School, the average
copyright date of the entire collection was 1984. This meant that books
about science, technology and geography were 22 years old, on average.
These outdated books have been replaced with approximately 6,000
contemporary books throughout the school district.

In addition to the increase in their library collection, the school
district purchased five videoconferencing stations for each of the four
elementary school libraries and middle school library. This equipment
allows the library personnel to partner with classroom teachers and take
classes on virtual fieldtrips across the world. The library automation
system upgraded to a district-wide system, which allows the schools
within the district to share resources and request materials from the
other five schools. Schools now have the capability to do online
encyclopedia research with seven databases. Easily available and high
quality resources facilitated district efforts to encourage all students
to read and to improve their academic performance.

## **Philadelphia Electrical and technology charter high school** 

## pennsylvania 

> Total No. Of Schools: 1 Students Served: 600 Award Amount:
> \$192,362.00

When the Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter High School opened
in 2002, the majority of resources were used on essential items required
to open a school, neglecting consideration of a library. Through the
funding provided by the grant, the school was able to create a library,
acquire and use advanced technology, and hire a school media specialist
to collaborate with the faculty.

The Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter High School found a
significant increase in their students' positive attitudes towards
reading. Before the grant funds were received, 45% of respondents stated
that they liked to read while 11% indicated that they "never" read for
fun and 26% responded that they "hardly ever" read for fun. In the
follow up survey in November 2006, 61% of students now liked to read.
The number who said they "never" read dropped to 9% and the number who
"hardly ever" read dropped to 19%.

To encourage the habit of reading for pleasure, the library acquired a
wide-range of fiction ranging from R.L. Stine and the Bluford High
Series to classics such as the Chronicles of Narnia and novels by Jane
Austen. The variation in reading material gives options for proficient
and struggling readers, and everyone in between.

In addition to increasing children's desire to read for pleasure, this
library has served to enrich and expand classroom lessons. For the World
History class, the school media specialist suggested a book called
*Private Peaceful* to emphasize the plot elements that related to that
particular social studies unit. As the teacher discussed World War I, he
was able to reference the novel, giving the students a richer
understanding of the impact of World War I on individuals. The
supplemental materials used across all subject areas wouldn't have been
possible without the grant. This grant allowed the school to establish a
responsive and dynamic library for the students where none had existed
before.

## **CLINTON CITY SCHOOLS** 

## NORTH CAROLINA 

> Total No. Of Schools: 2 Students Served: 1,600 Award Amount: \$348,046

Led by Linda Brunson, Project CLICK (Collaborating Libraries Involving
Clinton's Kids) established several goals to improve literacy of the
1,600 students in pre-K through 5^th^ grade. One of the project
objectives was to update and increase media resources by purchasing
literacy kits and materials. Each school purchased 12,000 books and
replaced damaged or out-of-date materials. Improving these deficiencies
was the first step to a successful program.

To facilitate the use of advanced technology, the two schools added
fourteen computer workstations as well as "Follett's Destiny Software"
to share resources and connect to the community public library. This
software provided staff, teachers, and students with the ability to
access online card catalogs at any of the system's schools. In addition
to the computers and software, each school purchased two Promethean
interactive white boards. This product helps teachers prepare digital
lessons to capture students' attention and accommodate diverse learning
styles. These white boards included a projector, laptop, speakers,
handheld voting systems, and document cameras, which promote an
interactive learning technology.

To foster professional development, teachers participated in monthly "NC
Reads" training in literacy assessment and also held collaboration
meetings to advance partnership between teachers and the media
specialist. Teachers and students also benefited from the extension of
media center hours at both schools. They opened a half hour before the
school day Monday through Friday and an hour after the school day ended
Monday through Thursday. Saturday events were held monthly where
students and parents met with visiting authors and participated in
storytelling. In addition to these monthly events, literacy nights were
created for parents to discuss strategies for reading with their
children. The meetings also included discussions on dealing with
children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and tips for
students of English Language Learners. During the summer months, the
schools offered reading camps. The public library also fostered a
relationship with the community by hosting a night for children and
parents to sign up for library cards and familiarize themselves with its
resources.

While the Language Arts and Reading subject areas have benefited most
directly by the new resources, Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics
have also benefited from the grant. The funds from the Improving
Literacy Through School Libraries grant have had a positive effect on
the overall quality of these two elementary schools.

## **NORTH LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT**

## ARKANSAS 

> Total No. Of Schools: 2 Students Served: 2,407 Award Amount:
> \$65,549.00

North Little Rock School District's project focused on building literacy
through book clubs for 9^th^ through 12^th^ graders. Normally, the
school wouldn't be able to afford enough books in the school library
media center to serve the need of one classroom, but with the grant
funds, the school was able to purchase enough books for the school
library media center to sponsor a wide variety of book clubs.

Among the variety of book clubs were "The Science Fiction Book Club,"
"The Mystery Book Club," "The Rebel Readers," "The Reading Frenzy Club,"
and the "Families First Book Club." Another book club targeted young,
African-American boys with several series of books that featured
African-American protagonists. These books were purchased with the hope
of attracting African-American boys because the schools test scores
showed that a disproportionate number of African-American students were
not proficient in reading. One book club targeted history buffs while
another club was formed for girls only.

Clubs met before school, after school, on weekends, in the summer or
during the school day. Many clubs used Barnes and Noble as a meeting
place while other clubs met at the homes of students, or even a teacher.
The parents were also welcome to sit-in on book club discussions.

The "Reading Renaissance" that North Little Rock School District
experienced was summed up by two of the book club sponsors: "Today is
the first day that I've seen the students since they were given the
books to read. Almost every student brought their book to class and when
I walked into the room, they were all sitting at their desks talking
about the book...When I asked them if we could go ahead and get started
on the lesson, they begged for a few more minutes to read! I'm ready for
more books!" Another teacher commented, "The ultimate sign of success is
when kids who are normally not readers recommend books to their
classmates." The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant
"...infused more than just money."

## **CASS LAKE- BENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL**

## MINNESOTA 

> Total No. Of Schools: 1 Students Served: 838 Award Amount:
> \$203,829.00

The Information Power Project (TIPP) began with a goal to provide its
Native American students information literacy tools to meet and exceed
grade level mastery. With very clear objectives, the Cass Lake- Bena
Elementary School used its new resources in a way to benefit all of its
students. In addition to using the grant money to carefully select new
books for the media center, project TIPP expanded reading beyond the
school walls.

The Reading Specialist created book bins for buses for students whose
daily bus ride to and from school was a minimum of 30 minutes. The grant
funds allowed the Reading Special to purchase 1,257 books, 68 magazine
subscriptions, and 123 literacy-based activities for the bins, providing
students with plenty of literacy focused activities for their commute to
and from school. One teacher reiterated the benefit of the book bins: "I
know of students who have read from and have been read to from the book
bins. They just love having books for their long ride home."

In order to expand the literacy initiative beyond the school year, the
Enrichment Coordinator created two three-week summer reading camps with
an Ecology focus. Books were purchased to support experiential learning,
children learning through these books as well as hands-on activities.
Field trips, environmental games, sing-alongs, and nature journals made
the camps an enriching experience. A total of 30 children attended these
reading camps. After attending the summer reading program, students
showed a significant gain on the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress
Reading Assessment.

Project TIPP also involved families in their child's learning
experience. Weekly family reading nights and Saturday morning family
experiential learning time allowed parents to model the teacher's
reading strategies and practice them at home. With the help of the
Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant, the Cass Lake- Bena
Elementary School has transitioned from having an inadequate library to
strong information resource center that extends beyond the media center.

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