The Bright Lights Book Project: Making Books Accessible to Students
Contributed by Alys Culhane
The Bright Lights Book Project Books in the Schools program was initiated by BLBP Project Manager Pete Praetorius. Former School Board Member Sarah Welton had just donated a bookcase to the project, and Pete thought that locating it in a Mat-Su District High school would serve the students in good stead, as would stocking it with BLBP books.
I called Colony High School librarian Stephanie Haase, who liked Pete’s idea. Pete, with the assistance of a handful of students, put the bookcase in the lobby. And Colony High School students and I loaded it up with fiction, nonfiction, and general interest books. Stephanie also agreed to be the bookcase guardian – she’d make sure that the shelves remained stocked and would let me know when more books were needed.
On May 3, 2021, Pete arranged for a dedication ceremony, in honor of Sarah Welton, a lifelong reader and literacy advocate. Those in attendance included Mat-Su School District Superintendent Randy Trani and other BLBP community supporters.
After the ceremony, Pete, who is both an avid reader and Bright Lights Book Project Community mainstay, had yet another idea. Why not have additional bookcases placed in other local schools?
Pete contacted Randy Wolfe, the shop teacher at the Mat-Su Vocational and Technical High School and proposed to him that his students build eight bookcases. Randy liked the idea so Pete then contacted the Palmer Community Foundation. Support, which came in the form of a $1,500 grant, was near-instantaneous.
In November 2022, I began making calls to schools. I told them about the BLBP and that we had bookcases and books available. I also noted that the majority of the books that they’d receive had been donated by the Mat-Su and Anchorage School Districts, private donations, and most recently, local CCS Head Start programs. Librarians and principals alike said yes, they’d welcome our donation.
The construction of the bookcases was an ongoing project, with Randy and Pete conferring on a regular basis about building particulars. The finishing touch came shortly after the students put the final coat of varnish on the bookcases. Randi’s students fastened the plaques that Pete had made on the outgoing bookcases. The plaques noted that Career Tech students had built the bookcases, and that the Palmer Community Foundation had funded this effort.
BLBP Volunteers vetted, cleaned, and made sure that each of the boxes contained age-specific books. The listed school recipients included The Mat-Su Technical and Vocational School, Teeland Middle School, Palmer Junior Middle School, Palmer High School, Valley Pathways School, Sutton Elementary School, and Wasilla Middle School. We have one bookcase left; where it will go will be decided in the next few days.
Pete dropped the bookcases off at the above-mentioned schools. I accompanied him when it came time to deliver the books. School administrators welcomed us with open arms, and immediately let the principals and librarians know that we were on site. The high schoolers moved the bookcases into place, and the children at both the high school and elementary levels placed the books on the shelves. Pete and I pointed out to administrators, principals, and librarians that involving students in setting up the bookcases and stocking the shelves increased the likelihood that they’d become lifelong readers. We upped the odds of this by supplying all the schools with pristine books on a variety of subjects, science fiction, art, and general interest books included.
Pete and I also requested that participating principals and teachers appoint a bookcase guardian for their bookcase. Colony High School Librarian Stephanie Haase was our shining example. She not only encouraged the students to take books, but to talk with one another about their finds.
I added that I’d keep in touch with school principals and librarians by contacting them every so often and finding out if and when they’d want any additional books. I added that I’d also ask if there were any specific titles or subjects the students might have in mind.
I presumed that once the final bookcase was delivered, that the Bookcases in the Schools program would be complete. I was wrong. Pete’s next idea was to seek additional funding and have Randy’s students build another eight bookcases. We could, he added, ask the Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union for a donation. They did provide us with funding, and now additional bookcases are being constructed.
The first bookcase will be placed in the lobby of the Credit Union in Wasilla, and the others will be placed throughout the Mat-Su Valley.