District rolls out $20,000 for school libraries and a March reading campaign

School librarians and reading‑initiative staff told the committee they will use a $100,000 grant to purchase $20,000 in new library materials across the district — $5,000 per school — focused on diverse and current titles, bilingual books and age‑appropriate formats. The teams surveyed students and ran focus groups to determine titles and formats that would engage different age groups, including graphic novels, sports‑themed books and materials for multilingual learners.

Marie Smith and colleagues described a March reading program that will record 'minutes read' per student and divide totals by school enrollment to create a minutes‑per‑student competition; schools will also run tailored activities (drop‑everything‑and‑read, reading nights, bookmark contests) to drive engagement. Librarians said about 300 titles had been ordered or identified and that they will integrate new books into a new circulation system.

Committee members applauded the work and asked staff to provide timelines for delivery and circulation. Staff said purchases and circulation setup would occur quickly to support March programming.

What’s next: staff will finalize orders, set up the circulation system and send program materials to families in late February to kick off reading activities starting March 1.