HARRISBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS FEDERAL LITERACY GRANT; SCHOOL LIBRARIES TO OPEN LONGER AND, FOR FIRST TIME, TO THE PUBLIC
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed today said that the Harrisburg School District has been awarded the prestigious Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant through the U.S. Department of Education.
The Mayor said the funding allows the school libraries to be open longer hours for students and, for the first time, opens them up to the public after school hours. "We have been building up the school-based libraries for the past seven years. This grant is a significant enhancement of these efforts and what has been accomplished in these several years was how we merited this grant," Reed said.
Reed said the grant for $306,743 is one of only three such grants awarded within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and one of less than a hundred awarded across the United States. The one-year grant provides funding for the:
- Purchasing of additional up-to-date school library media resources, including books
- Acquisition and use of advanced technology that is integrated into the curriculum to develop and enhance the information literacy, information retrieval, and critical-thinking skills of students
- Facilitation of Internet links and other resource-sharing networks
- Provision of professional development for school library media specialists and activities that foster increased collaboration among library specialists, teachers, and administrators
- Access to school libraries by students during non-school hours, weekends, and summer vacations
Reed said the grant will allow the Harrisburg School District’s multiple libraries to also be open to the public until 7:00 p.m. during the week on a rotational schedule.
"Receipt of this grant allows for an accelerated push for improved literacy for students of all ages and grade levels," said Reed. "Allowing for extended library hours also provides students with a safe place to study and do homework after school hours, and, for the first time, allows the rest of the community to use the libraries in our schools after school hours."
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