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Three new and improved libraries were unveiled on Wednesday at Attucks Middle School, Cullen Middle School, and Yates High School.
The three libraries were updated through funding as well as donations facilitated by District IV Trustee Jolanda Jones, including a special collection at Cullen Middle School from the NAACP of Houston featuring publications about African-American scientists and inventors that focus on STEM-related subjects. The Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation also donated 1,200 to both Attucks and Cullen middle schools, which will be delivered next week.
Some of the features of the renovated libraries include:
- Google Glass
- dozens of new iPads
- color printers
- eBook collections with hundreds of interactive texts
- comfortable seating with café tables
- special seating to accommodate students using laptops, and a technology bar to make using digital tools easier
Trustee Jones told students about her experience with reading as a child and how books were emphasized as something important to her future success.
“My mother told me that I could afford to go to college because my brain could put me through college,” she said. “My mother worked in the basement of the TSU library and since she couldn’t afford baby-sitters, she took me to TSU and had me reading books.”
The efforts to revitalize each of the libraries supports the district’s Literacy by 3 efforts, a program to have all students reading on grade level by grade 3. Building on the success of that program, Literacy in the Middle was launched this year for middle school students.
The next phase of HISD’s literacy initiative will focus on high schools.