Tag Archives: CMLE

Onamia Elementary School CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Kim Colvin, Media Specialist at Onamia Elementary School.

The grant that Onamia Elementary School received from Central Minnesota Library Exchange helped the library in many ways. The books that we purchased were books that students and teachers requested to help grow the library. 

Thank you so much for helping me get new books into my students’ hands. They are so excited to read all these great books and want to read more books because of it, and are becoming more open to different types of books.

This is really helping the students become better readers because they want to read these books and explore all the new books we received. Some new skills the students are learning with these books are their ability to read and to enjoy reading. It’s not just something they have to do in school.

Students are learning about different genres of books and what types of books they enjoy. Many students developed a spark for different books that they never would have read if it weren’t for this grant.

We did speed dating with the new books so they could see what they were about and get them interested in other books. This opened many students’ eyes to different types of books and got them hooked. Many students were begging to read the book beyond the 10 minutes, or not to go to the next book.

I personally ordered a couple more copies of some books because so many students wanted to read them. The books that many students related to had characters struggling with tough issues. It was an instant connection to their life. 

Students are enjoying these new books! The ones that are really enjoying them are the ones that don’t want to read the traditional type of books or the ones that don’t think reading is fun and interesting. These books are reaching the students that are struggling to read or that don’t really like to read.

Hopefully, the books from the grant will help students see there’s such a variety of great books out there! We appreciate the books that we could get through this grant and the students are loving the different types of books and the new desire to read that it sparked!

This grant expanded the library with books and got many students at Onamia Elementary School excited to read! Thanks so much from everyone at Onamia Elementary School!

Fieldstone and St. Michael Elementary CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Kristina Kampa, Media Specialist at Fieldstone Elementary and St. Michael Elementary.

I have seen this grant application before, but never thought to apply. My thoughts were it would be too much work since I have never applied for a grant before, I don’t have time, I would never get it, the list goes on. 

I saw the information in the CMLE Newsletter this fall and I figured I would apply this year because we were not given any funds to purchase books other than the money we raised from our book fairs.

So this was the year I was going to sit down and fill this application out for the two elementary media centers I work in. The Google Form for the grant was very simple to fill out.  When I received the email back saying that both of my schools I work in were awarded the grant, I was beyond excited.

I work at two different elementary schools in my district and they both have areas in the collection that need updating, but funds have kept the updating limited. 

I started weeding the non fiction section in one of my schools last year, but realized I couldn’t weed all of the books my report suggested because I didn’t have funds to order new ones.

Our sports team section was in desperate need of more current updated books and I was able to purchase a whole new collection of football books from this grant. I was also able to purchase a few new graphic novels as well which we never can keep on the shelves! 

My other school desperately needed updated picture books for the students and teachers to have for read alouds. With this grant, I was able to place an order for over 50 new picture books

The students have been eagerly waiting for these books to arrive and to read them. I am very thankful for this grant and how it allowed me to purchase new and current books for my students and staff at both schools. Thank you CMLE for helping me update our collections this year! 

Northwinds Elementary CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a Guest Post from Carmen Tubbs, Principal at Northwinds Elementary.

The grant the Northwinds Elementary School received from Central Minnesota Library Exchange was beneficial to our school community in several ways.

The books purchased through the grant were based on feedback from our students and educators. The grant gave financial support in order for us to provide materials and increased learning opportunities for both students and educators as well as expand our connections to families. 

The books support teachers in making connections to their lessons and the real world. Teachers use the books in the library, including the new ones purchased, to supplement their lessons, add to their classroom libraries and supplement instruction.

Many teachers use the books to read aloud to students as well as lead literature circles or small reading groups as sometimes we are able to provide more than one copy of a specific book. 

The grant also supports students in offering more choices for them, increasing their reading abilities as well as nurturing excitement and enjoyment in reading. We know that research shows that reading not only increases academic achievement overall but also helps students enjoyment of school and learning.

Students use books to learn about the world and gain a greater sense of self. We have observed students being highly engaged during library time, excited to check out books, sharing what books they enjoy and have read or want to read with library staff as well. 

Finally, the grant allowed for increased connections between home and school. Our Kindergarten through 5th grade students check out their library books at school. They can then read them at school but also bring them home.

When students can share their learning with their families at home, this strengthens the collaboration and connection between the home and school and adds value to a child’s education. 

This grant expanded our library with additional books but it also added positive value to the learning environment at Northwinds in many ways that will continue to grow in the future. Thank you for this gift to the Northwinds library, our students and our educators.

Ruth Johnson CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post by Ruth Johnson, Media Specialist at Clearview Elementary.

With sincere gratitude, I am happy to report on the significance of the $565 grant that our Clearview Elementary Media Center received from your organization.  Your grant was used to support an important need in our school’s library.

Clearview hosts our district’s Spanish immersion program for students in K-5.  In addition, our school has traditional classrooms where neighborhood children attend for instruction in English. 

As a result, our school library has to essentially be “two libraries in one”.  With tighter funding through the years, it has been a challenge to keep both collections updated and growing in current reading material.  

In many ways, most of our collection growth came about by hosting Scholastic Book Fairs and using the proceeds to purchase books.  While we are very thankful for this opportunity, the book selections are limited, especially in getting Spanish literature that is genuine and not just a translation of English titles.

So, when awarded your grant, we focused on buying books that would help grow our Spanish collection.  Our school is comprised of 17 classrooms and 12 of these are Spanish immersion, so our need was to add many more book choices and copies to the Spanish side of our library.

Working with a book company that has special pricing for districts with higher poverty levels, we were able to order 140 books with the grant award covering almost all of the cost!  I think this is a huge return on your money, as it averages to be less than $4 per book!  Who would ever expect to get that many books for $565?  

Now what will those books do?  They will delight our students who each check out from 1-2 Spanish books per week!  Having new literature to choose from is such a treat!

I sincerely thank you for this opportunity to expand our book collection at Clearview!  Please know that your organization and its mission are much appreciated!

Sara Martini Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Sara Martini, Media Specialist at Westwood Elementary in St. Cloud.

Last spring, I was given a grant by CMLE to spend $1,000.00 to purchase books to increase the diversity in our PAKRAT (Partners and Kids Reading Alot Together) program at Westwood Elementary School in St. Cloud. 

This grant was so exciting to receive, and I was able to purchase 160 new books in which every student in our school can see themselves represented in the books they can pick out to take home to share with their families. 

Our families at Westwood have read almost 8,000 books this school year as part of our PAKRAT program! In fact, one student told me that her mom told her to thank me for having so many girls wearing hijabs in the books we were sending home.  Representation matters!  Thank you so much!