Target has a program called the Target School Library Makeover, in which they spend $200,000 to renovate a few chosen school's libraries. One recent school was Potter-Thomas Elementary in North Philadelphia. Potter-Thomas's 400+ students received a brand new library, about 2,000 new books, and each student got 7 books to take home.This is a fantastic gift from Target!
But unlike Potter-Thomas, hundreds of schools in this district are still struggling to teach reading and writing, help their students attain literacy, and instill a love of learning without school libraries or librarians.
As we at Library Build know, and as Philly.com says, "In the late 1990s, a time of huge budget deficits, the school district began eliminating librarian positions and failed to replace those who retired or found other jobs." Now schools don't have librarians, and they don't have libraries.
In some ways the Philadelphia School District is trying: they allowed Target to help out Potter-Thomas, they are spending money on the Promise Academies to increase standards and resources at 6 under-performing schools, and they are working with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to provide students at Drexel's School of Information Science with scholarships.
Of course, even with these plans in motion there is still a lot of work to be done.
Here's the two articles about Potter-Thomas's new library!:
Excited for School Library
Happy Ending
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