'Sharing the Wealth' project equips new teachers with classroom libraries

Teacher educators are constantly looking for ways in which to support their newly graduated pre-service teachers. While typical methods of support include coaching, mentoring, providing continued professional development, and creating support systems, many pre-service teachers are more concerned about their immediate need to obtain supplies-more specifically children's books-for their new classrooms. This is hardly a new need. Most teachers find themselves entering classrooms that while full of text books, have little to no children's books. While borrowing library books is always an option, it doesn't make for a comprehensive, thorough and thoughtful library. Having a stable classroom library, full of quality books, is important for both teachers and students. For the teachers, this gives them a plethora of materials to use across all content areas that their students can then use on their own to extend their learning. For students, it gives them resources to enjoy during independent reading times, individualized research projects, and to bring home to share with family members.

While new teachers are often encouraged to go to garage sales, visit thrift shops and use coupons at local book stores, this can often be difficult for new teachers who have just earned their teaching credential and are just beginning to have stable employment and a regular paycheck. The typical "best case scenario" is when a new teacher inherits a retiring teacher's classroom library. When this happens, the new teacher is thrilled to have a starting point and the retiring teacher is relieved, knowing their carefully created classroom library will be used and appreciated by both teachers and students. It is this scenario-connecting new teachers and retiring teachers-that Jennifer McKay, assistant professor at the UAA/APU Consortium Library and Kathryn Ohle, Ph.D., assistant professor of Early Childhood Education, pursued this past summer.

Armed with donations from teachers and schools looking to unload some of their resources, McKay and Ohle, with organizational help from CESA Sonya Sheaver and financial support from the Center for Community Engagement and Learning for bins and baskets, created carefully cultivated collections for recent graduates from the the UAA Early Childhood and Elementary Education programs. The collections were grade-specific, diverse and included books that hit a variety of genres. A typical collection contained author studies, popular series, holiday books, math trade books, nonfiction books for social studies and science, a large selection of guided reading books across a variety of levels and, of course, a large collection of picture or chapter books for independent reading. Additionally, the boxes of books came with instructions on how to set up and organize their libraries, as well as a lengthy list of recommended quality books they might purchase in the future. All in all, eighteen novice teachers, located across Alaska, received a collection with an average of 200 books.

While in short supply at this point, McKay and Ohle hope to continue the project so that future graduates might also leave UAA with not only a degree but the physical resources they need to be successful. As McKay and Ohle put it, "Here's one more way we can show our students we are there to support them-even post-graduation. You don't stop caring just because they aren't in your classes anymore. In fact, knowing these graduates are making a difference in kids' lives means you care even more!"

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