Books by Jack Phillips Lowe

Students at Oak Hills Elementary School are able to enjoy all the state-of-the-art classrooms and educational facilities that one would expect from a newly constructed school.

But when students visit the school's library with their class each week, it's clear that there is one crucial element missing. There aren't enough books.

In fact, there is such a shortage that the majority of the library's shelves and racks remain empty, forcing students to cycle through the limited selection, with many having to wait until the book they want has been returned.

"We do have a lot of books, but we need to grow," Oak Hills librarian Meredith McGowan said. "Students don't have the resources ... on campus, to help with their reports, and that's something we need to work on in the next five to 10 years."

When the school first opened in 2003, the library was given roughly $50,000 of start-up funding, to help with the purchase of books and resource materials. That money was enough to purchase the library's initial collection of close to 2,000 books.

Since that time, McGowan and her staff have been able to bring that number up to just under 3,200 books. But with an average-size elementary school library needing between 10,000 and 12,000 books to be considered complete, a tremendous need still exists.

"We've had other schools donate books, we've had teachers donate books, we've had the junior high and high schools donate books," said McGowan about the library's efforts to fill their shelves. "If it's age appropriate, we try to use everything."

In an effort to help remedy the problem, campus administrators and the school's PTA formed a program last fall called "The Wall of Appreciation" that allows parents, relatives, local businesses and other community members to make donations to the library, in exchange for an engraved tile, that will be placed on the wall above the library's main entrance.

"I think the goal of the parents and the administration has been to focus all of their attention on the library," McGowan said. "The parents are so supportive, they really want to have a high quality and diverse library, and that's important."

With a goal to raise $30,000 during the 2006-07 school year, Oak Hills Elementary offers four different tile selections for donors to choose from, based on the amount of their contribution.

For instance, a donation of between $100 and $599 would earn the donor a 4-inch by 4-inch ceramic tile, complete with the an Oak Hills coyote logo, the donor's name and the year of the donation. Donations between $600 and $999 are adorned with a digital image of the school, donor name and year.

Business and family donations ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 are entitled to a larger and more detailed tile to add to the wall. Last year, the program raised close to $17,000 for the library.

With the average cost of a library-bound book - which comes complete with an outer wrapping and library barcode - being about $25, those donated funds can only go so far. The school has a great need for books geared toward fifth- and sixth-graders, with an emphasis on biographies, state and president-themed information books, and a set of encyclopedias.

"We have kids that come in once a week with their classes, but they also come in at lunch and recess, and they read and they ask questions," said McGowan about the importance of continuing to fill the library's shelves. "It's just awesome to see they really are interested in literature."

posted by Kris # 3:37 AM