Past projects 35
Scrolling LED Sign Helps Library News Pop!
Funded Sep 19, 2020Your generosity has allowed our library to use technology to advertise new books, library news, and to attract people into the library. So many people have commented on how neat our new sign is, as well as how much they admire it. People are taking notice. I've also had people come in to discuss information they have seen on the scrolling marquis. Mission accomplished! My goal is to make our library a place that is inviting, comfortable, exciting, and resourceful.
With this sign, I can draw people's attention to monthly celebrations such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, and Holocaust Month. We can raise cultural awareness reflecting our school culture and cultures of the world at large. Overall, the sign helps bring more and more patrons to our library by piquing their curiosity about things happening here. Your generosity not only helps keep our little library that could, afloat; it also helps make the library a thriving and happening place.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
Feed Our Hungry Bilingual Readers!
Funded Jan 21, 2020Receiving the money to purchase bilingual and Spanish language books has enabled me as a librarian to better serve our Spanish teachers and department, our native Spanish speakers, and all of our Spanish students. This is a process I have been working on and will continue to work on throughout the coming years. Your support is helping us achieve critical goals that our district is long overdue in achieving.
You have helped enable me to collaborate with the teachers and Spanish students and help provide them with bilingual and Spanish language books that are interesting and relevant to their lives and cultures. These materials and your generosity helps our students develop stronger language and literacy skills, while also building a richer collection of diverse books that expose students to different cultures or that give them a richer knowledge of the cultures that represent their own heritage. Thank you for your ongoing support and for making our "little library that could" stronger.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 28 other donors.Our Native Spanish Speakers Deserve Better Resources!
Funded Feb 28, 2019Our Spanish and bilingual book section is grossly lacking. You are our first step in growing our collection into the enticing collection it needs to be. It is our library's mission to serve every single student in our student body. Before we won this grant, we were failing almost completely in this mission regarding our native Spanish speaking students. Due to your kindness and generosity, our library collection better reflects and serves our Spanish speaking students, particularly our native speakers a little more than last year.
I hope to grow this collection consistently every year. Without our donors, our library could not be the little library that could. Students no longer have to rely solely on inter-library loan to have access to challenging and interesting Spanish and bilingual books. Now, they are right in their Spanish classrooms.
Time and time again, our donors hold us up higher and higher in their support and I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude for this gift. Please be aware of the tremendous impact it makes, not only to our dear students, but to classroom teachers and to me as well. Thank you for your kindness.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 5 other donors.Help Give Some Gas to Our Little Library that Could!
Funded Aug 30, 2018You have just shot a jolt of energy and strength into our little library that could. My budget shrunk again this year and at a meager $4900 allotted for everything, I feel like we barely have enough to meet the needs of a 1950's library; however, YOU guys gave me power, power to supply our students with materials that are relevant to their lives NOW. You give me hope. You give me strength and motivation to keep striving, even when times are tough, as they almost always are as an educator in Illinois. You give me the ability to build a library program. Do you know how extraordinary that is?
I don't think I have ever seen circulation thriving like it is this year. Kids are coming down, not only with their English teachers, but on their own. You have a hand in this, as you have helped me pack this library with resources that the kids want to see here and that they can use, both in their educational pursuits and their private ones. Thank you for keeping my business booming and giving me the beautiful tools to help impact our student's lives in a positive way. I wish you could all come in to the library and see this dream carried out. It's just awesome, you guys! Thank you for supporting our library, our kids and me. I can't adequately express how grateful I am to you. Hugs!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 other donors.Help Our Students Get Some Fresh Fiction Picks for Spring!
Funded Mar 12, 2018Several years ago, I cleared out a significant portion of outdated books from our library. It left our shelves looking pretty bleak; however, with your help, those shelves are filling slowly but surely. Right from the start, I began calling our library the little library that could. Without your help, it would never be what it is today. We are chugging right along!
Kids want fresh, cutting edge, interesting books that reflect who they are and what they are interested in. They are constantly changing and growing, so our library collection must too. When budgets remain stagnant or decrease, it's difficult to succeed in giving our kids what they want and deserve. YOU help us do this year after year and it's the best gift I can ask for.
Our school staff is working hard to promote reading and to get kids excited about it every single year. On the first day of school alone, I had over 150 students in the library with their English teachers to choose books for sustained silent reading. Because of your generosity, we have enough to serve them. I can't thank you enough. Keep fighting the good fight with us! Educators and our students couldn't keep thriving without you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
This classroom project was brought to life by The First Million Fund and 13 other donors.Feed Our Students Delicious Reads During Our Fall Reading Frenzy!
Funded Nov 9, 2017Every time we have the good fortune to be supported by your good hearts, not only does our library thrive, but also our spirit and hope. I always call our library the little library that could and we CAN because of you. Please know that every time you donate you help combat the negative forces affecting school funding in our society. You help make our dreams possible and I can't begin to express our gratitude adequately.
The comfort of knowing we have a dedicated team of philanthropists supporting us and rooting for us is one of the best feelings an educator can experience. We know we are not left alone to battle funding cuts and already meager book budgets and that knowledge is a gift in itself.
It is hard to express the impact your donations have on our students. I wish you could be in our library to witness the moment one of the books you helped us buy sparks a student's interest in reading or when one of them helps a student solve a problem or learn something new about themselves or another culture. It is truly a profound experience and due to your help, it happens on a daily basis.
Thank you for supporting a cause that will benefit the world by opening and enriching students' minds and hearts through the beautiful gift of books. As I have said before, you are giving our students and learning community a gift that impacts and gives for many years and for that, I am extraordinarily grateful to you. Thank you for supporting our school, our library, and most importantly, our kids.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
Help Our Students Binge on Books!
Funded May 10, 2017Access to literacy resources and books sets up young people for a lifetime of success and enrichment. Your gift makes this possible. Time and time again, I am humbled by the number of people who care about our school and students, as well as the important work you do to help fill our library shelves. You are not only giving our students books, but also journeys of self-discovery, comfort, and inspiration. You are helping our young people grow and thrive by giving them access to knowledge and education.
Former librarians, educators, parents, community members, and people whose lives have been touched by the gift of literature come together to give to schools and kids and I can't think of anything cooler than that. Your support warms my heart and gives me the awesome experience of seeing our kids' eyes light up when they see those new resources filling our shelves. Our kids have been incredibly patient as they watch our tiny collection grow and thrive. Thanks to you, this is happening faster all of the time. Thank you for your generosity and philanthropic spirit and for giving the gift of books to our young people. Without your support, we would not be the little library that could.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
Help Our Students Make Prom Memories That Sparkle and Pop!
Funded Feb 23, 2017Our students had an absolute blast with these cameras at prom. I could not have predicted how excited our kids were about our makeshift photo booth. They used the cameras all night long. Many brought their own film on top of the film we won in the grant and took tons of pictures to take home with them. The cameras we won helped make prom memories the kids can hang on to forever.
The kids were a little disheartened when we first told them we didn't have the $850 in our budget to rent an official photo booth, but thanks to your generosity, we made our own and I think the kids ended up having more fun with it. It was perfect! We will be able to use the cameras for many proms to come. Thank you so very much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
Help My Students Set the World on Fire!
Funded Dec 12, 2016In my opinion, there isn't a more valuable and enriching gift you can put into a young person's hands than a book. Books enrich emotionally and intellectually and help people grow and learn about the world around them at their own pace and in a private and personal way. Our library is small, but powerful and it is growing every year thanks to donors like you, who support us time and time again.
The resources we will gain as a result of your funding this grant will aide our students in writing scholarship letters, applying for college and jobs, preparing for the SAT, improving their literacy skills, learning about themselves and others, teaching them to empathize, and overall, enriching their lives by helping them achieve their goals and learn about who they are as people.
Please know your generosity and impact will be far reaching, as these books will be added to a growing collection of valuable resources that will serve thousands of students throughout the coming years. I can't adequately explain what your donations mean to me and to our school. It is humbling to look at the list of donors, from close friends to people who just want to support young people in their educational pursuits. It's extraordinary and I'm grateful every day.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 other donors.Feed Em' Books!
Funded Feb 28, 2016What a wonderful thing it was for our students to return to school this year and have access to a large number of new books right off the bat! Our busiest time for check out is in the beginning of the year, when the teachers are bringing in their students for sustained silent reading books. It feels wonderful to be able to provide students with a larger selection of books right here in our own library. I feel better prepared to meet the needs of our kids and teachers and kids are very excited that we have titles that haven't been published very long. Every year, I depend heavily on these grant to boost our collection and because of you, I am succeeding.
Please know that your generosity directly affected our students right from the start this year and will surely impact them positively throughout the remainder of the year. Thank you for your continued support of our students and our school community.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilkins