Charles City reading teacher partners with Lion’s Club to replenish classroom libraries

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Charles City Middle School reading teacher LeAnn Smith kicked off an unusual book drive last week, with a little help from the Charles City Lion’s Club.

It’s a drive to replenish the classroom libraries in the Charles City School District.

As a reading specialist, Smith has an enhanced understanding of how important it is for students to have a variety of books available to them.

“Students need to be surrounded by choice,” Smith said. “Schools do a pretty good job of making books noticeable and accessible.”

In the new middle school, for instance, each grade-level area has a library. However, many of these books get taken and not brought back.

“Most of my colleagues believe that if a book finds a good home, then that’s great,” Smith said. “However, those books don’t usually get replaced, making the shelves more and more bare.”

Some years ago, Smith heard many teachers talking about their classroom or grade-level libraries being diminished by students taking the books. She held a book drive and was able to get more than 1,000 books donated by students staff and faculty.

She decided to expand on that this time.

The ultimate goal of the book drive is to replenish those classroom libraries and get books in students’ hands or homes.

“Usually there is a wide variety of books donated, but I am asking for gently-used books for readers in kindergarten through 12th grade,” Smith said. “Once the book drive is over, I will organize and distribute the books to the correct schools and/or grade levels to fill their shelves and possibly give away to students who have no reading material at home.”

To make it more interesting, Smith decided to turn the drive into a bit of a competition this time. Classes are competing against each other, with the classes that are able to gather the most books getting awarded with an ice cream party.

It’s the fifth-graders against the sixth-graders, the seventh-graders against the eight-graders, and so on, all the way up to the senior class. There will be four ice cream parties in all. The drive ends April 30.

“Helping those shelves become full again is part of my goal for this book drive,” said Smith. “We believe some of these books are taken by students who don’t have access to books in their home and/or are unable to use the public library. Those are the students who need books the most.”

Smith said she is hoping for similar results to the last time she led a drive — 1,000 or more books. Smith approached members of the Charles City Lions Club and asked them to be her partner in this endeavor, and they agreed.

According to Lion’s Club Secretary Brad Bailey, the help the Lions Club offered fit right into the “Lions in the Classroom” philosophy.

The Lions participate in other endeavors with the school district, including projects such as used book drives and sales, grants for students interested in becoming teachers, and a project which makes an effort to make certain that students have clean glasses.

“She reached out to us, we learned that this was something she has done before, she wanted to expand on it, to include it through 12th grade, and we were happy to help,” said Bailey. “Our board members approved it whole-heartedly.”

The Lions Club purchased the totes that will go in each competing room. They have labeled each box to show their support, and they will be funding the ice cream parties.

“I’m so glad to have the Lions Club behind me,” said Smith.

“We were happy to endorse that, and we’re excited about the opportunity she’s going to be giving the students,” said Bailey.  “It’s part of a great relationship we have with the school district.”

Bailey said the Lion’s Mission Statement, which is “to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding, we serve,” goes well with this latest project.

“We serve. It’s something that unites Lions around the world,” he said. “And it’s unconditional. Lions aren’t limited by continents or restricted to certain causes. We help wherever, whenever and however we can.”

Smith said, “If anyone in the public wants to help, they should get ahold of me at 641-257-6530 ext. 2222. Community members can even drop off books at the middle school or high school office. The secretaries will let me know, and I will move the books.”