COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio teachers union working with a nonprofit school supplier will donate more
than $50,000 for books and supplies for classrooms across the state.
The funds that will come in small grants are important in the many school buildings that have cut their
library budgets or closed school libraries, according to the Ohio Federation of Teachers. First Book
aims to make school needs affordable, and its discounted books allow the effort to obtain books worth
more than $100,000 at retail.
Teacher Amanda Glavickas in northeast Ohio said a $1,000 grant is allowing Grand Valley Middle School to
to add 116 print books and 13 audiobooks for students to enjoy. The school’s library has no budget and
no librarian, so it needs donations and the work of staff and student volunteers to keep the library
going, Glavickas said.
Grants of $100 were available to support new members in the union’s six largest K-12 local unions. Larger
grants were awarded based on project proposals that included Literacy Night events, stocking classroom
or school libraries, books for children to read during winter or summer vacations, and educating around
a specific topic.