Books for SE Libraries
I thought that all schools would have the same size libraries (in terms of books) but live and learn. Many elementaries don't have as many books as others. I do recall that there was money spent so that each K-2 (or 3rd) would have a small class library in each classroom. Here's a plea from SPS Parent.
From Rainier Valley Post:
“I think we have a LOT of challenges, and with the economic situation being what it is, some problems seem hard to solve,” said Graham Hill parent volunteer Anna McCartney in an email to the community.
But she added that there is at least one idea that strikes her as fairly simple, and that’s collecting as many new and gently-used books as possible for the budding readers at Graham Hill and other schools.
In her plea to the community, McCartney underscored the importance of every classroom having a wide array of interesting books at a variety of levels so students are challenged without being bored or frustrated.
She asked community members to raid their shelves for books their children have outgrown and donate them to Graham Hill in Seward Park or other south-end schools looking to beef up their classroom libraries.
“We have preschool through grade 5 at our school, so new or used books at all levels would be great,” said McCartney. “We need both fiction and nonfiction, and nonfiction and science-based books would be wonderful.”
If anyone has books to donate, please get in touch and you can either drop them off at my house or I’m happy to pick them up. anna AT mccartneyfamily.com.
From Rainier Valley Post:
“I think we have a LOT of challenges, and with the economic situation being what it is, some problems seem hard to solve,” said Graham Hill parent volunteer Anna McCartney in an email to the community.
But she added that there is at least one idea that strikes her as fairly simple, and that’s collecting as many new and gently-used books as possible for the budding readers at Graham Hill and other schools.
In her plea to the community, McCartney underscored the importance of every classroom having a wide array of interesting books at a variety of levels so students are challenged without being bored or frustrated.
She asked community members to raid their shelves for books their children have outgrown and donate them to Graham Hill in Seward Park or other south-end schools looking to beef up their classroom libraries.
“We have preschool through grade 5 at our school, so new or used books at all levels would be great,” said McCartney. “We need both fiction and nonfiction, and nonfiction and science-based books would be wonderful.”
If anyone has books to donate, please get in touch and you can either drop them off at my house or I’m happy to pick them up. anna AT mccartneyfamily.com.
Comments
I think in the past that has been part of the site based budget decisions. Additionally it seemed that schools with librarians/parents who went out looking for books @ SPL book sales etc, had much larger libraries.
At Summit- we had school-wide book groups( by grade) & a separate section for book group books ( say 8 or more copies of same book). Every year a fundraiser was held to raise money/books for the library.
( all those books are now the property of SPS- nice deal for them eh? )
Additionally- classrooms with veteran teachers are much more likely to have a classroom library. Teachers often build their library with their own funds- but that takes time. If schools with higher FRL ratio, have newer teachers, ( as seems to be the case), they are going to have a lot less time to establish a classroom library & may be too overwhelmed to even do so.
There are a hundred or two children's books there, all in excellent condition, for, if I recall, all ages (k-8, at least)
I collect books at estate sales, and have gone on Sundays when I've seen a large haul, knowing they wil discount for quantity books: Who wants to move them? ("You do...out of the house!" says my wife.) They learn they are going to a public school, and they're happy to give 'em away. I've donated hundreds of books to schools in this manner, cheap or free (One kind gentleman gave me over fifteen boxes of books from his father's art, culture, civics library. My only cost was sweat, gas, and new shocks for the car.
But I don't have time to go to this sale at 130 Florentia today, second day..I've got business elsewhere. Hmmm...who lives near the Fremont Bridge...
I purchased the same history text book for $0.94 on Amizon.com. Orignial value of the book was $100.
The school had older versions of the book available, but finding pages etc. is time consuming.
-ttln
We had a meeting up at our school this past week to talk about the fairly depressing results on the recent school report cards. One of the big things that kept coming up was that teachers said that they didn't have enough books in their classrooms.
I don't know what the situation is at other schools, but it seems to be a big problem at ours. I was just thinking that if we all went through our bookshelves and picked out books that our kids have outgrown, it would be a big step toward solving this problem.
I am guessing that lots of other schools need books too, so I don't mean to only be asking for donations for OUR school. Find out if your local school needs books. If you have extra to spare, schools in SE Seattle surely can use the help.
I'm happy to be a depot and collect books to be distributed, so please get in touch if you would like to make a delivery to me (or I can do some pick ups too).
Thanks everyone for your help with this. I just think this is a problem we can solve pretty easily (and cheaply) if we all pitch in and donate kids' books that we are done with.
Several teachers mentioned that they'd especially like interesting nonfiction books - like the DK books about science, or whatever - so ESPECIALLY if you could keep an eye out for those, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks a ton!!
Anna