Two Southland schools will receive grants from The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.
The Texas-based foundation is granting up to $7,000 each to Park Forest’s Talala Elementary in Crete-Monee School District 201-U and Blue Island’s Lincoln Elementary in Cook County School District 130.
The grants are given to help students develop a love for reading and learning, according to the foundation, started by the former first lady. The foundation provides funds to school libraries to update and expand existing libraries and media collections.
Lincoln has not yet been notified on how much money it will receive. Talala will receive $5,000, its district officials said.
The funding comes at time when schools face financial hardships as a result of the state’s financial crisis.
“All districts have to be more creative” in order to maintain the same quality of education, said Natalie Nash, spokeswoman for Crete-Monee.
At Talala, the money will be spent on general history, including American history, and African-American history, biographies, and topic involving science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Nash said.
“We are so proud to receive this grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries,” said Crete-Monee Superintendent Nathaniel Cunningham, Jr. “This grant will go a long way in helping our students at Talala Elementary learn and develop a love for reading.”
At Lincoln, the grant money will be used to replace worn out books, increasing the total number of non-fiction titles to 50 percent of the collection, according to Amanda Siegfried, spokeswoman for Cook County School District 130.
More Top Picks Best Dji Drones
School officials in both districts credit faculty members for applying for the grants. At Lincoln, Barbeth Graal and Deanna King, as well as Debbie Ruklic at Talala, were the driving forces in identifying the schools’ needs and applying for the grant, officials said.
To qualify, schools had to demonstrate an economic need, with at least 85 percent of the student population qualifying for free or reduced lunch. The schools also had to have an existing library, a paid staff librarian, and be an established school, according to the foundation.
Since 2002, the foundation has provided more than $13.4 million to more than 2,500 schools in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. territories and military bases, the website showed.
The only other school in Illinois that earned a grant this year is Bond Elementary School in Chicago.
Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.