Classroom Library Enhancement Grant

Several classrooms in Dickinson and Iron County received an expansion of their classroom libraries. All 56 Intermediate School Districts (ISD) in Michigan were given the opportunity to apply for the $10,000 Classroom Library Enhancement Grant. The purpose of this grant was to appropriate funds to help engage teachers with the K-3 Literacy Essentials, to provide students access to diverse classroom libraries, and to build on the relationships of the ISD literacy coaches and classroom teachers.

Classrooms at North Dickinson Elementary and Forest Park Elementary were the recipients of the grant facilitated by the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District (DIISD). They were given the opportunity to completely rebuild their classroom libraries by adding engaging books, new bookshelves and comfortable spaces to read in the classroom.

Students from Kayla Snell’s First Grade classroom at Forest Park Elementary were excited for their new surroundings. They were included in the process from the beginning stages by helping decide a theme, discussing how books could be checked out and returned, and requesting favorite books to add to the library. 

The DIISD Literacy Team, Ashley Thomas, Courtney Leonoff, Danielle Dumais and Michelle Thomson, worked to ensure the books were engaging, complex and diverse. The goal was to help present books to students that represented the greater world outside their community. “We want children to be able to see themselves in the texts they read like looking in a mirror,” Michelle Thomson, K-12 Literacy Consultant, said. “But we also want them to be able to see cultures and experiences that are different from their own as if looking out of a window.”