The libraries in PVSD were defunded over ten years ago and due to budget constraints have not been reinstated.

The accessibility of books in our district is largely dependent upon teachers’ abilities to build and maintain classroom book collections. This isn’t easy to do! At the Shelf to Hand Book Project, we are a couple of concerned moms and citizens who recognize the critical need for our kids to have access to books at school and have decided we can do something about it.

This first effort is focused on our middle schools, where some language arts classrooms have ZERO physical books available for extracurricular reading and there are no common area book collections for kids to explore.

That means that a significant number of our middle school students have no access to reading for fun at school. While there is a digital collection, there isn’t much time during a typical school day to explore it, and some kids may not have access at home. Additionally, many kids don’t have a way to get to the city library on a regular basis and may not have home book collections.

Access to physical books at school MATTERS.

Based on the latest available enrollment information, we are estimating that our goal, if reached, of collecting 5000 physical books to be placed into middle school classrooms should increase availability to 2-3 books per enrolled student.

The CDE Model School Library Standards for California recommends school libraries contain at least 28 books per enrolled student.

For schools that have a library program, that would be IN ADDITION to any classroom book collections.

5000 books may sound like a lot, but it’s just a start.

Help us get there by spreading the word, donating today, volunteering, and donating on Drive Day.