UCPS Gives Back : Book donations pour in for Take Home Library Project at Marshville Elementary
On Dec . 13 , Marshville Elementary third grade student Brayden Russell delivered a giant bag filled with smaller red and blue bags to Margaret Swicegood ’ s kindergarten class .
One by one , each student gasped as they looked at what was inside their bag : three books to start an at-home library .
“ I ’ m so excited . My book has puppies on it ,” Tucker Cox said .
“ My book is about Pete the Cat , and I love Pete the Cat ,” Cristobal Cruz said , holding his book up for everyone to see .
Not wasting a single second , Addison Glenning opened her book and began to read as soon as she pulled it out of her red bag . “ I watch this show at home . I really like the Bernstein Bears ,” she said . “ I love all of my new books .” This same scene played out in every class at Marshville Elementary , as a group of third graders , who were selected because of their outstanding leadership , delivered 1,353 books throughout the school .
And -- through a partnership between Union County Public Schools ( UCPS ), Unite Union and Huntington Learning Center in Weddington – this scene will continue to play out throughout the next year as the organizations work together to distribute more than 17,000 books to UCPS Title I elementary schools .
“ The goal is that every Title I elementary student in the school district will have three books to take home that is theirs by the end of next school year ,” said Huntington Learning Center -- Weddington Director Jewel Wiesinger .
The idea for the take-home library project , Jewel said , was born during a meeting that she attended with UCPS Superintendent Dr . Houlihan and other school district leaders . At some point during the meeting , she mentioned wanting to help stock school libraries .
“ And in passing , Dr . Houlihan said , ‘ Well , let ’ s think outside a box . What about a take-home library ?” she said . “ I wrote that down and circled it . And that was it .”
Several months later , Jewel connected with Stacey Martin , who recently co-founded a nonprofit that aimed to bridge the gap between western , central and eastern Union County . They quickly realized that their shared passion for literacy and equity throughout Union County closely aligned with UCPS ’ renewed focus on literacy and equity in all schools .
After revisiting Jewel ’ s notes from her meeting with Dr . Houlihan , Stacey and Jewel drafted a proposal for a take home library project that would put three grade level-appropriate
14 • Jan / Feb 2018 • Parent Teacher Magazine
UCPS , Unite Union and Huntington Learning Center - Weddington recently created the Take Home Library Project , an initiative that will provide every student in a UCPS Title I elementary school with 3 books to start their own at-home library . The initiative kicked off at Marshville Elementary , where students received books that were donated through book drives at New Town Elementary and Cuthbertson Middle . books in the hands of every student enrolled in a Title I elementary school .
“ Some kids with limited resources don ’ t come into contact with books until they get into the public school system . So we said , ‘ How can we help build their library and empower them to not only read at grade level , but to just love to read ?” Stacey said . “ And so many parents would love to be able to sit down and read to their kids , but without resources , how can you do that ? So we wanted to be able to provide books that empowered students but also parents and caregivers to be able to read to their kids .”
To help with the initiative , New Town Elementary and Cuthbertson Middle collected as many as 4,000 grade level-appropriate books in donations from students , parents and community members .
New Town Elementary hosted a book drive and parents were asked to consider purchasing and donating an extra book for the Take Home Library project at the school ’ s book fair . At Cuthbertson Middle , the school ’ s beta club and other organizations encouraged book donations in their community .
“ I was speechless at the amount of books that Cuthbertson Middle was able to donate . And ( New Town Elementary Principal ) Catherine Perry kept calling and said , ‘ I have more books for you to pick up ,’” Stacey said . “ It was just amazing .”
The books raised by the school not only exceeded their expectations , Jewel said , but are also enough for them to distribute to another school .
“ We needed 1,600 books . We didn ’ t expect to nearly triple that ,” she said , laughing . “ It was surprising .”
Stacey and Jewel plan to use the existing model of asking neighborhoods and their feeder schools to host the initiative by hosting book drives as the project continues to grow .
“ Seeing the look on the students ’ faces when they opened their bags really warmed my heart ,” said Marshville Elementary Principal Janna Licata . “ This is an opportunity for students to get their own books and have additional access to literacy at home .”
To get involved with the Take Home Library project , contact Stacey Martin at uniteunion . sm @ gmail . com .
– This article was provided by the Union County Public Schools Communication Office