Building a Representative Library with a Classroom Library Grant

Reading was my form of escapism as a child and teen. I had an isolated childhood but was able to go to the library every other week or so, and I often checked out over a dozen books to read in that time. My favorite Disney princess was Belle for two reasons: she looked like me and she loved to read. I saw myself in her. Similarly, when I was a little older, I read Anne of Green Gables for the first of many times. Anne Shirley’s caring but rambunctious spirit was very familiar to me. Anne has a huge heart. She tries so hard to do well but gets distracted easily. She forgets to finish tasks halfway through. I saw myself in her, too.

As a high school English teacher in Orlando, FL, I have students who are more diverse than any I have known. Students at my school speak over 75 languages altogether; in my classroom, I can hear at least seven languages. I have dozens of Exceptional Students and my school has a high number of unhoused students or students with inadequate housing, as well as those who simply are in low income households. As a result, students cannot always see themselves in their books. They may not be able to find books in their home language or at their reading level. They may not have time for reading even if they can find books they can read.

While our school library has books in Spanish, the most commonly spoken language at my school, it does not have any in French, one of our more common languages after Spanish. Receiving the Classroom Library Grant has allowed me to provide several books in French. Additionally, my growing graphic novel and middle grade sections have been very popular with my English Language Learning students and my students reading at a lower level who may be unable to find anything they can read in the high school level books at our school library. I have also made a point to purchase books written by and about diverse voices. I have books with authors and characters who are Black, Latino, Native American, Haitian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Muslim, female, disabled, struggling with mental health, and more. My students have been able to see themselves in the books they read, sometimes for the first time.

To solve the problem of students unable to make time for reading at home, I have a solution: I provide students with 10 minutes to read their independent reading books frequently, often every day! Students can choose to bring a book from home or from our school library, but more and more students are choosing to find a book from my library instead. To further support literacy in my classroom, I share my recent reads and ratings with my students and give book talks on new additions to the class library. Recently, I hosted a book tasting activity for students to get to know books from six genres that they can find in my classroom library. My use of all of these strategies has resulted in improved reading and writing test scores as well as improved grades and a better sense of community in my classroom.

The grant has allowed my classroom library to grow to over 85 titles so far, and since I have thrifted many of the books, I still have a significant chunk of the money remaining to continue finding deals for my classroom library. The books are quickly outgrowing my little thrifted bookshelf—I will have to secure a larger space soon! Without the Classroom Library Grant, I never would have been able to put together this space for my students. Thank you, Sigma Tau Delta!

Grace Gronowski
Classroom Library Grant Recipient, 2024
Lake Buena Vista High School
Orange County Public Schools, FL

Sigma Tau Delta Classroom Library Grants

Sigma Tau Delta’s Classroom Library Grants are designed to enhance the Society’s goals of

promoting interest in literature and language in the surrounding communities;
fostering all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing; and
serving society by fostering literacy.

The Classroom Library Grants are also intended to support our members who have entered the field of teaching and need material support to help achieve these goals through their work in the classroom by providing their students with a library in their own classrooms, especially where access to school or public libraries or to books in the home may be limited.

The Society will award up to five grants of $400 each per cycle to help members of Sigma Tau Delta who have been teaching in a Middle School or High School classroom for five years or fewer. That is, applicants may or may not be recent college graduates; the Classroom Library Grant is intended to help new Middle School and High School teachers, whether in their first years out of college or in the first years of a second career, to build a classroom library for their students.

Criteria For Selection

In choosing recipients, the Classroom Library Grant Committee will consider the following criteria:

lack of economic and geographic access to books at your school, or another demonstrated need;
the explanation of how the classroom library envisioned will support your goals in alignment with the Society’s goals; and
supervisory endorsement of your classroom library project.

Please note that this grant is now only available to middle school and high school educators.