I have recently joined the faculty as the librarian in a small rural upstate New York K-4 elementary school after many years as a high school librarian. It is a wonderful community thanks to the faculty and staff and involved parents. I've been very impressed with the students' enthusiasm for learning. Our district qualifies for free lunch for the entire student body. For some of these students, the school library is the only opportunity they have to go to a library. My students are excited and curious about everything and I want to support them in every way that I can. They are fascinated by so many subjects: Amelia Earhart, JFK, sharks, unicorns, robots and so much more!
My Project
Studies have shown that providing school libraries with a full time librarian results in higher student achievement in addition to all of the other benefits of reading. My school hasn't had a full time librarian in years and now that we do, I want to make sure that the children get the most they can out of the experience and learn to enjoy being in a library and curling up with a good book! I want to make their reading experiences positive, but the library was not designed to provide children with comfortable seating, so they have to sit at table on wooden chairs. I brought in one bean bag chair from home and I sometimes find four students squeezed into the one chair! They are very excited to be in the library and I want them to feel comfortable so they will become lifelong readers and library users. Like many teachers, I have already spent my own money to support the library program but the cost of seating is more than I can manage. I would like to get three bean bag chairs and three jumbo sized pillows made of the same material as the chairs. They are comfortable but also durable and washable.
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