Schools entering were asked to share the story of their school library, including past efforts to make improvements and “great ideas to help create a brighter future.” Patterson personally read and selected the winning recipients of the grants. In the first-ever partnership of its kind, Patterson joined forces with Scholastic Reading Club to administer funding applications to their network of 62,000 schools and 800,000 teachers.
We are proud to announce this year’s new grant recipients and thank James Patterson for his continued personal commitment to save school libraries.” The amazing outpouring from schools combined with the continued generosity of James Patterson helped us solidify a second year of grants to help more children have access to high-quality books and, ultimately, revive school libraries. “Last year’s ‘Patterson Pledge’ showed communities nationwide how important school libraries are, but also how gravely desperate they are for books to fill their shelves in the midst of steep budget cuts,” said Judy Newman, President of Scholastic Reading Club. I’ve made it my mission to underscore the vital role reading plays in children’s lives, and the need to sustain school libraries is at the heart of that mission.” “Nearly half of the American population reads at or below a basic level, and we need to address that problem to foster an informed future electorate. It was hardly discussed,” says Patterson.
“We’ve just come out of the most divisive presidential election in history – and among all the issues that captivated voters, education wasn’t one of them.
And with the matching Scholastic bonus points more books for the Birthday Books initiative will added to expand the type and genre of books available to students as they build their own personal collections at home. Wettel Elementary is a regional elementary leader in STEAM education and in order to keep this initiative going strong more STEAM books will be introduced into the collection. Wettel Library Media Specialist, Ashley Sperber will be using the grant money to breathe new life into the library collection by purchasing new books for the nonfiction collection. A portion of the money will also be spent on creating a new collection of STEAM books. William A. Since the grant program’s launch in 2015, Patterson has donated $3.5 million to school libraries nationwide, with all funds are being personally donated by Patterson. As part of an ongoing effort to keep books and reading a number one priority in the United States, selected school libraries will be receiving grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. James Patterson and Scholastic Reading Club announced in March 2016 that Patterson would donate $1.75 million to save school libraries nationwide in the second installment of his School Library Campaign. To learn more, listen to Patterson’s exclusive interview about the critical need for school libraries on the “Scholastic Reads” podcast: /podcast/james-patterson-loves-libraries Wettel Elementary School was selected amongst thousands of applications for funding grants.
In addition, Scholastic Reading Club will match each dollar of Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms. W.A. Wettel Elementary School received a grant from bestselling author James Patterson to support its school library. Wettel Elementary School RECEIVES GRANT FROM JAMES PATTERSON AND SCHOLASTIC READING CLUB FOR SCHOOL LIBRARY Zachary Adams placed 5th place in a cross country dirt bike race recently held in Harpersville, NY.