August 2019

Penny Kittle, leading author and secondary educator, envisions classroom libraries with books for every reader. A passionate advocate for building students’ interest and skills in reading and writing, Kittle asserts, “We can change the story of reading. We have to. Every child. Every year. Every classroom. Book Love–pass it on.” As part of this effort, she created the Book Love Foundation in 2013. Over the past six years, the Foundation has given out $500,000 in grants to over 200 teachers. This year, Selma Agic and Jessica Madden, English teachers at Hamtramck High School, were among the 66 recipients of Book Love Foundation grants. Eager to build culturally relevant and personally engaging classroom libraries for their diverse students, these Wayne county teachers filled out the comprehensive grant application. Their advice to future applicants includes the following tips:

• Start your classroom library no matter how few your resources.  Selma and Jessica built their libraries over the years by ordering books and adding on with books picked up from library sales, garage sales, discount stores, special splurges, and their favorite community resource–Tiny Libraries. They also received a donation of a number of gently used books from a local book store, coordinated by the Delta Kappa Gamma teaching sorority.  Most of the books they have added are led by students’ interests and wish lists. They also keep on top of new titles by following Penny Kittle’s reading lists, ALAN lists, The New York Times Best Books for Teens, and NCTE. Additionally, they swap titles with colleagues and students.  It’s catchy to share excitement over books. Teachers can watch the enthusiasm in their classrooms grow as their library selections increase.  On the grant application, Selma and Jessica shared the story of their classroom libraries. They listed books and authors their students love and why those titles fit in their classrooms.
• Join professional organizations to keep current on new research and to gain confidence and support in your teaching practice.  NCTE, Michigan Reading Association, and International Reading Association all support choice reading and developing a reading diet that is culturally relevant, culturally diverse, and varied in content and text types.  When applying for grants, Selma and Jessica encourage teachers to share what they’ve learned through these organizations, including their academic interests and topics they want to know more about. 
• Develop a close relationship with WRESA.  Over the years, Selma and Jessica have been very fortunate to have participated in a variety of professional development workshops through WRESA on many topics, such as reading and writing workshop, teaching young adult literature, socratic seminar, raising achievement in African American males, working with struggling readers and writers, trauma informed training, restorative practices, SAT preparation, and social emotional learning workshops. Throughout all of these trainings, they have made connections to WRESA coaches and facilitators who have been eager to be invited into classrooms and share their expertise. Selma and Jessica have welcomed them as partners, learning from them and beside them; particularly, Dr. Rosalyn Shahid has been an invaluable resource for both teachers.  On their application, Selma and Jessica shared what they’ve learned from WRESA, both material and immaterial. They also were able to ask for recommendation letters because of the time spent attending WRESA programs and working with WRESA consultants.
• Show your journey with stories, pictures, and data.  Even though a grant is a formal application, these teachers chose to illustrate their need through stories. They drew upon their own unique life circumstances and those of their students. They described their own and their students’ personal reading journeys. With permission, they shared pictures of their classrooms and their students with favorite books. Finally, using student surveys and other classroom data, they shared evidence of the importance of classroom libraries based upon the amount of books read and reading growth in their students.
• Read young adult literature.  We are living in a time where the stories told through YAL are informative, intriguing, and inspiring!  There are so many great books, and we know how little time teachers can have to read.  Reading YAL, though, is often not as challenging as many of the difficult texts teachers wade through with their students. It is often a relaxing break from administrative duties and home responsibilities. As mentioned before, teachers are able to build relationships with students and enrich the literacy in their classrooms when sharing these works together.

Building a classroom library is an ambitious undertaking. In recognizing this level of effort and commitment, the Book Love Foundation describes Selma Agic and Jessica Madden as “models, through their lives and teaching, of how the right books and the right classroom community can have a lifelong impact on students.”