Two schools in Waco were looking to replace damaged and old books in their libraries and applied for a couple of grants. Well their voices were heard, and they each received so much more.
Hillcrest Professional Development School and Waco High School libraries were each awarded book grants totaling $16,600 through a partnership between the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries, H-E-B, and Scholastic Books.
Hillcrest PDS library aide Dana Telep appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show Tuesday to accept the $5,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation, after which she was surprised with another $5,000 from Clarkson, along with 500 books, who partnered with Scholastic for the donation.
HEB matched the grants from both, donating giving $6,600 to Hillcrest PDS and to Waco High School, where librarian Cristina Ramirez had applied for the funds.
During her Zoom call, Telep reiterated the importance of representation in children's books for her students. She said, "In literature, they talked about how books are either windows or mirrors. You need to be able to see into other people's lives. I'll talk about that with the kids a lot. That's where we frame a lot of our stories. If this isn't your experience, this is giving you a way to look at things. And they love it."





