A special donation by Bernie’s Book Bank will enable Homewood District 153 to provide every child kindergarten through fifth grade with new books to start an at-home library.
Anne Wallace, a first grade teacher at Willow School, worked on arranging the donation. On July 13, the organization delivered 750 bags with more than 4,000 books.
A special donation by Bernie’s Book Bank will enable Homewood District 153 to provide every child kindergarten through fifth grade with new books to start an at-home library.
Anne Wallace, a first grade teacher at Willow School, worked on arranging the donation. On July 13, the organization delivered 750 bags with more than 4,000 books.
The bags have fiction and nonfiction books for all grades. Bernie’s Books calls them Family Bags, but Wallace said the bags will be repackaged with books for specific grades and shared with students at Willow and Churchill Schools.
Wallace first learned of the program two years ago from her friend, Eileen Uhlmann of Flossmoor. Wallace, who was a reading specialist at Willow at the time, started the application process. The district was accepted for the program, but it took 18 months to get a shipment.
“There are many others that were really needy and were ahead on the list,” Wallace said. So when she got word the delivery was coming she was very excited.
Bernie’s Book Bank recognizes that two out of three low-income children do not have books of their own. Since it was founded in 2009, the nonprofit has distributed more than 18 million new or gently used books.
Homewood-Flossmoor High School students sponsored a book drive for the organization in January 2020 as one of their Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service projects.
Wallace knows there are children in District 153 who don’t have books at home. She worked on securing the donation because “I think giving a child a book helps inspire them to want to read. Just having a new book in their hands motivates them. The more books you can get in their hands, the more you can inspire them.”
She said studies show that students who don’t develop good reading and comprehension skills be fourth grade will struggle through school.
Willow School has three reading specialists. They work with kindergarteners through second grade. The child’s needs are assessed in kindergarten. Children who need assistance work with the reading specialist in small groups with three or four other students.
Wallace said for some it’s a matter of comprehension. They can read all the words but can’t relate to what they’ve read. The reading specialist gives them pre-knowledge so they can have enough background to understand the story. For others, it’s developing skills. For example, a child needs help to get the letter’s sounds and blend the letters to sound a word.
“A lot of times they might be a little below level and you try and give them books they can read to get that excitement in them and they feel confident,” Wallace added.
The teacher admits that as a child, “I struggled as a reader.” Her students often are surprised by that fact. She also knows a lot of people feel that the (students who struggle) aren’t trying. Wallace says that just isn’t the case.
“I know what it feels like (to struggle), even though I had books and my mother was a teacher. For some kids there are no books at home and reading’s not reinforced.”
Wallace said she’s had small distributions of donated books before and the students have asked her: It’s mine? I don’t have to return it?
“It gets them excited to have a book,” the teacher said. She knows Bernie’s Books are sure to be a special gift for all students this year.