AASL Beyond Words and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation Award $100,000 in Grants to Two Houston Schools

Two Houston schools extensively damaged by Hurricane Harvey are the recipients of the 2018 catastrophic disaster relief grants offered as part of the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Beyond Words: The Dollar General School Library Relief Fund. Thompson Intermediate School and Moore Elementary School both suffered devastating losses to the school libraries in the hurricane and its aftermath.

Flood waters entered Thompson Intermediate School late Saturday, August 26, 2017, and the school library received six inches of water damaging books, flooring, and furniture. Due to roads blocked by high water, the school building remained inaccessible until Wednesday, August 30. Thompson’s entire nonfiction collection, located on the bottom shelves, sat submerged in water and all 10,772 books in the school’s collection were exposed to high humidity and mold during this extended period. Out of caution, district leadership declared the entire collection unfit for student use.

At Moore Elementary School, overflowing water from the nearby creek inundated the campus. The building took in 2.5 feet of flood water, contaminants, and sewage, destroying the school’s interior and contents. Like at Thompson School, workers were unable to start rescue operations for several days and the delay caused wet items to become waterlogged and items above the waterline to develop an active mold infestation. Along with the 20,000 books in the library’s collection, other media, technology, equipment, and fixtures were destroyed or contaminated to the extent of being unsalvageable. The school library was declared a total loss.

“Again last year, catastrophic storms devastated communities in our country,” said Jennisen Lucas, chair of the grant jury. “Families lost their belongings, their homes, and their schools. When whole schools are displaced and whole library collections are destroyed, the loss felt can be profound, especially for those students who turn to the library as their safe places. The recipients of this year’s catastrophic grants are already working tirelessly to build back up that sense of safety that their libraries provide, and the money from these grants will alleviate some of the stress of starting over.”

Since 2006, the Beyond Words grant program has provided relief to public school libraries nationwide that have suffered materials losses because of major disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, flood, earthquakes, fires, or an act recognized by the federal government as terrorism.

“During times of devastation like Hurricane Harvey, the impact is magnified when students and teachers do not have access to their school libraries,” said AASL President Steven Yates. “I remain in awe of the unwavering commitment of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to provide the critical resources needed to respond in times of disaster.”

American Dream Literacy Initiative Celebrates a Decade of Influence

by Kate Sanders, University of Oklahoma

“No one should have to go without the basics of life,” said Denine Torr, head of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, quoting J.L. Turner, the company’s founder. For the literacy foundation, its partners, and grant recipients, the basics of life include literacy and access to quality literacy instruction. They believe that everyone should have “access to empower themselves, lift themselves up,” said Torr, addressing the audience who came to hear the published results of 10 years of work. She explained that the original role of libraries was to help fulfill the American Dream – giving everyone, regardless of their station, regardless of the color of their skin, or gender, access to information that could transform their lives.

To date, the program (partnered with the ALA office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) has awarded 214 grants to libraries across the country, totaling more than $1.5 million. Recipient libraries use those funds in a variety of ways to support literacy instruction and English Language Learning (ELL).

Librarians from two recipient libraries came to ALA to share the impact the grants have had in their communities.

Jessi Suire, public relations and adult services coordinator for the Terrebonne Parish Library in Louisiana, was eager to share the good that the grants have done for the Terrebonne Parish system. The system supports nine libraries serving a large Hispanic population. Through Conectando, an umbrella of bilingual literacy programs, they have used the grants for parts of their service area that were previously lacking resources, thereby strengthening the connection between the library and community. The programs offered with ADLI funding include Historia Para Todos, a twice-monthly bilingual book club focusing on the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Tiempo de Cuentos, bilingual storytime.

Ari Baker, Blount County Public Library, Maryville, Tenn., is the instructional librarian working primarily in developing public classes for workforce development and ELL. Partnerships are emphasized, such as working alongside the county recovery court to teach life skills and soft skills to formerly incarcerated persons.

Kristin LaHurd, assistant director for literacy and continuing education for the ALA Office of Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, shared some of the statistical results of the 10 years of the American Dream Literacy Initiative. “Eighty-seven percent of libraries report the grant helped patrons access print and digital resources. Nearly 15,000 students across the nation have participated in ESL classes. More than 65% of libraries reported that the funding improved connections with community partners and other libraries,” said LaHurd. She emphasized the important roles community partnerships play in creating sustainable programming and outreach. “Grantees that developed partnerships were seven times more likely to have sustained their ELL services.”

Information about the American Dream Literacy Initiative and how to apply for the grants can be found at https://apply.ala.org/americandream2018/.