Students at T.H. Johnson Elementary School now have 40 new books to enjoy, thanks to the Taylor Rotary Club.
The books will introduce the pre-kindergarten and kindergarteners to topics such as science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM; biographies of important figures; and social-emotional learning.
“We teach the kids to hug their books when they’re holding them, and so, right away, they’re picking them up, and they’re hugging them, and they’re begging to check them out,” Johnson librarian Brenda McNulty said.
For the past two years, the Rotary Club has worked with McNulty to widen the school library’s book selection.
The first donation focused on adding more modern bilingual books, as the section mainly had books dating back to the 1960s, officials said.
“Their donation really brought a lot more popular titles for students to choose from,” McNulty said. “A lot of ‘Elephant and Piggie’ titles in Spanish — I can’t keep those books on the shelf.”
Last year, the donation focused on getting biographies, fiction and Spanish books that McNulty couldn’t initially secure herself.
By introducing more biographies to the library, students will have more representation they can relate to, educators said.
“It’s great when they can see themselves in print, and they can identify with, ‘Oh, this person looks like me, and look at this cool thing that they did,’” McNulty said.
“It offers them vocabulary into different occupations they maybe don’t know about yet.”
This year, the STEM books will provide students with life lessons as they follow activities that go along with the books and utilize the scientific method.
“It teaches them to identify a problem, come up with solutions for that problem (and) try those solutions,” McNulty said.
With each book donation, Rotary Club members visit the campus and introduce the new books by reading to students and providing snacks. This year’s visit is planned for November.
Having adults read to students creates a lasting impression and encourages them to keep reading, especially early in their lives, educators said.
“We’re trying to put a foundation of reading with the kids,” Rotary Club President Greg Redden said. “The best place to start is when they’re young.”
McNulty remembers one bilingual student who told her it was “the best day of her life” having people come read to her class and new books available in her language.
“Brenda says she’ll get those students every once in a while and goes, ‘Hey, remember when those people came and read to us?’” Redden said. “It’s impactful because when anybody shows an interest in our kids, in our youth, they notice that and they remember that.”
The donations, each costing about $1,000, were funded by the club’s fundraisers and the money it gets in return from the Rotary Foundation’s District Assistance Program grant.
Next year, the club plans to focus on the libraries of the other two elementary schools of the Taylor Independent School District.
“This will be an ongoing experience for the kids,” Rotary member the Rev. George Qualley said. “Rotary is really committed to literacy.”
If community members want to support THJ’s library themselves, McNulty said she welcomes donations of clean supplies, like boxes, for the students’ STEM activities or people’s time to help shelve and repair books.
The Rotary Club also welcomes new members who are looking to get involved in the Taylor community. Meetings occur every Thursday at noon at the Sirloin Stockade, 3607 N. Main St.
