Revitalizing High School Libraries

New York Life awards three cities $869,000 to boost urban media centers

By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 12/1/2003

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Some lucky high schools in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Tampa can expect improved library collections and up-to-date technology as part of a two-year $896,000 grant designed to boost teen literacy and student performance.

Backed by the New York Life Foundation and distributed by the Public Education Network, the new Revitalizing High School Libraries program will grant $183,000 to three urban education organizations to revamp high school libraries in areas with a significant number of at-risk and bilingual students.

Minneapolis plans to use its grant to renew media centers at Washburn and Roosevelt high schools, where about half of the student population are English-language learners, including immigrants from Somalia and Cambodia. The first step will involve librarian and teacher collaboration on upgrading collections, and the scope of the project will undoubtedly benefit "disenfranchised readers" across the student population, says Catherine Jordan, head of Achieve!Minneapolis, a local group that supports city schools. The grant earmarks $22,000 for collection development, with the remaining funds going toward technology upgrades and other improvements.

The Hillsborough Education Foundation will receive $80,000 to purchase materials for the Robinson High School library in Tampa. Some $29,000 will be used to install a wireless media center with 16 circulating laptops and to provide online training for students and teachers. Robinson was chosen out of 25 district high schools based on need and its dedication to improving student reading. "Literacy is [Robinson's] number-one priority," says Hillsborough spokesperson Mary-Helen Keen, who emphasizes Principal Kevin McCarthy's commitment to raising the library's profile among teachers.

Revitalizing High School Libraries has also fostered partnerships among school and public libraries, government agencies, and local businesses. San Francisco's Mission High School, for example, has enlisted the University of San Francisco's School of Education to further train high school teachers and staff, and young adult specialists from the San Francisco Public Library plan to booktalk in English and Spanish.

New York Life Foundation President Peter Bushyeager says, "We recognize that libraries are the center of intellectual life, and if you strengthen the libraries, you strengthen all sorts of opportunities for kids."